Korean Air has made the longest non-stop flight since its inception in 1969, using a passenger plane converted into a cargo plane. The company announced that the cargo flight KE8047 left Seoul-Incheon Airport on June 12 at 21:14 local time, and arrived at Miami Airport, after traveling 13.405 km, almost 15 hours later.
The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, transformed into a cargo plane, was used on the direct flight from Incheon to Miami to send 25 tons of COVID-19 tests to the Dominican Republic. Korean Air operates six scheduled flights a week to Miami, the center of South American routes. Carriers usually stop at Anchorage to refuel and change crew. Since last year, the airline operates charter-only passenger flights to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
Korean Air converted 16 passenger planes into cargo planes, including 10 x Boeing 777 and 6 x Airbus A330, by eliminating passenger seats. In addition, cargo seats (CSB) were fitted to the passenger seats of two Boeing 777s.
Korean Air's longest flight so far was the Incheon-Atlanta route, a flight of 12.547 km, a flight of 13 hours and 50 minutes.