Austrian Carrier Debuts World’s Shortest International Flight

In a bid to connect the Alps with the Rhine, Austrian carrier People’s Viennaline is launching a service that will offer passengers solid service to Cologne.

Austrian carrier People’s Viennaline has announced the debut of what it believes to be the world’s shortest international flight.

Taking approximately eight minutes, the carrier’s new service will run between St. Gallen in Switzerland to Friedrichshafen in the extreme south of Germany, on the shores of Lake Constance.

In terms of distance, the journey is a grand total of just 13 miles. The Daily Mail reports that tickets for this route, which will operate twice a day, five days a week, will cost €40 ($44.70).

The route will not come into operation until November 2, so until then, those seeking to make their way between the two cities must still rely upon regional road links and ferry services. Under the right conditions, the 47-mile car journey between the two points can be completed in about an hour.

Catamaran services rival road transport in terms of speed, getting passengers from port to port in 45 minutes. Regular passenger and car ferries can take anywhere from just over an hour to almost three hours to complete this same journey.

However, beginning in November, this feat will be achieved in under ten minutes by the carrier’s 50-seat Embraer jet.

It may seem an odd choice for a new international route, but the impetus behind this service is strategic. The idea is to use it as a feeder route to offer passengers a solid connection with the airline’s Friedrichshafen-Cologne route.

Set in a major population and financial center, Germany’s Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN) is one of the country’s most important transport hubs

In a statement issued in German, People’s Viennaline said that these two cities, “are connected on either side of the lake for the first time in … history directly with each other.”

[Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS]