THE WORLD'S SHORTEST FLIGHT

While going on long flights often mean getting to explore foreign countries and cultures, there’s nothing fun about being forced to sit in the same seat for hours on end. First world problems, we know.

So, imagine being able to get on a flight to an island that only takes a few minutes. Well, even shorter than that.

Welcome aboard the world’s shortest commercial airlines flight. To get from Westray Island to Papa Westray island takes 80 seconds in total. That’s 1 minute and 20 seconds of flying. Not enough time to serve drinks or food but, hey, we’ll get on board. That’s if we knew where these two islands were…

Here’s a quick geography lesson: The Orkney Islands are situated north of Scotland and consist of 70 islands of which only 20 are inhabited. On some islands, like Papa Westray, there are less than 100 inhabitants.

The local council decided that it’s not worth the money to build bridges between the different islands, so they have given the locals two options: take the super slow ferry or the world’s shortest flight. We can all guess which option sounds the best, right?

It’s sort of like a bus service, but not. Whatever it is, it’s pretty cool.

Watch the Great Big Story video below for more on the world’s shortest flight.

Image credit: A Lifetime Of Islands