On May 12th, it was reported by domestic media that on May 11th, the non-stop passenger route from Shenzhen to Mexico City was officially opened.
This passenger route spans over 14,000 kilometers, setting a new record for the longest non-stop international passenger flight in Chinese civil aviation. It is also the only passenger route from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau to Mexico and even the entire Latin America region.
On the current world's longest flight routes list, CZ8031 falls just short of the sixth-ranked route from Auckland, New Zealand to Dubai, UAE, spanning 14,200 kilometers. Upon its inauguration, CZ8031 claimed the seventh spot on the list of the world's longest flights.
This route operates twice a week, using an Airbus A350 wide-body aircraft for a total flight time of approximately 16 hours. The most recent flight was on May 14th, with a ticket price of 16,428 yuan.
The outbound flight CZ8031 departs from Shenzhen at 9:00 p.m. Beijing time and arrives in Mexico City at 11:00 p.m. local time after a 16-hour flight.
The return flight CZ8032 takes off from Mexico City at 1:00 a.m. local time, makes a stopover in Tijuana, and lands in Shenzhen at 12:20 p.m. Beijing time.
It is reported that the over 14,000-kilometer route is nearing the operational limit of current civil aircraft, with only a few aircraft models capable of undertaking such a task.
Among the aircraft in China Southern Airlines' fleet capable of flying over 14,000 kilometers, only the Airbus A350-900, the longest-range model in the A350 family, and the Boeing 787-9, the longest-range model in the 787 family, can accomplish this feat.
Both of these large twin-engine wide-body intercontinental aircraft, when fully fueled, have a maximum range exceeding 15,000 kilometers, enabling them to circumnavigate the globe in just three takeoffs and landings.
