The world's shortest commercial flight lasts just over a minute, connecting two islands in Scotland's Orkney archipelago. The 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) journey between Papa Westray and Westray takes approximately 74 seconds, with a record of 53 seconds reported. This flight, operated by Loganair, carries up to eight passengers and provides an alternative to a 20-minute boat ride across potentially choppy waters.
While the Scottish route is the briefest, several other ultra-short flights operate globally. In Belize, a flight between Caye Caulker and Caye Chapel covers four kilometers in about two minutes. For those traveling between the capitals of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 24km journey from Brazzaville to Kinshasa takes approximately 15 minutes, though the total scheduled time for the trip is 50 minutes. ASKY airline is among the carriers serving this route.
Further exploration of brief flights includes journeys in Greece, Ireland, and the Caribbean. Flights between the Greek islands of Karpathos and Kasos cover 19.3km in about five minutes, often operated by local airlines like Aegean and Olympic, with off-season prices starting around £7. In Ireland, Aer Arann Islands operates a 10-minute flight between Connemara and Inis Mor, a distance of 16km.
The Caribbean also features several short-haul routes. A 15-minute hop connects St. Martin to the island of St. Barthelemy, with charter flights and Winair serving the route. Additionally, the journey from Saba Island to St. Maarten takes approximately 20 minutes and covers 45km, with Winair being a primary carrier. The Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba is noted for having one of the world's shortest commercial runways.
In Europe, as of July 2, 2026, Ethiopian Airlines launched services that include a 45-minute flight from Geneva to Lyon, marking it as the shortest Airbus A350-900 operation in Europe.