Travel: we sort of know all about it, right? Wrong. Scratch beneath the surface and it turns out we know nothing of this world. Do you know how long the world’s shortest commercial flight lasts, for example? (clue: shorter than the time it takes to boil an egg.) How about which country has no rivers? Or what unconventional pizza topping is popular in Sweden?
With international travel currently off the table, why not use this time to swat up on surprising travel trivia, offering a few precious minutes of sweet relief from the constant news cycle and providing some fun facts to fill awkward pauses during video calls with friends and family; trust us, nothing plugs a silence better than a stat about how many steps from the nearest trash bin you are in Disneyland at all times.
Without further ado, here’s 25 travel facts that are certain to shock and surprise.
Trains, planes and automobiles…
1. The world’s longest commercial flight took around 30 hours.
The so-called ‘Double Sunrise’ service by Qantas, which ran from Australia to Sri Lanka from 1943-45, often lasted over 30 hours, with passengers seeing the sunrise twice. Today the longest commercial flight is the Singapore Airlines Singapore to New York route, with an average journey time of 17 hours and 50 minutes.
2. The shortest commercial flight takes less than two minutes.
Incredibly, the shortest commercial flight, operating between the neighbouring islands of Westray and Papa Westray in Scotland’s Orkney islands, takes around one and a half minutes. With the fastest recorded flight taking less than 50 seconds.
3. Japanese railways hand out ‘certificates’ for delays of more than five minutes.
Japanese trains, reputedly the most punctual in the world, issue passengers with a ‘delay certificate’ if a train is running more than five minutes behind schedule. The documents can be shown to bosses or teachers to explain a passenger’s lateness. Delay certificates are also issued on some trains in Germany and in Paris.
4. The most expensive airport to city taxi ride costs around £190.
Any budget traveller worth their salt attempts to avoid airport taxis at all costs, but anyone keeping an eye on their finances should certainly avoid jumping in a cab from Tokyo’s Narita Airport. According to a study by Moneycorp (a currency exchange company), the ride is the most expensive airport-to-city transfer in the world, costing an average of £191/$235 one way.
5. India’s trains transport roughly 23 million passengers each day.
That’s the entire population of Australia. Additionally, if laid out in a single line, the tracks from India’s railway network could circle the world one and a half times.
Things you didn’t know about countries…
from
via Lonely Planet India
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