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Shortest haul: European airline offers 8-minute international flight
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An airplane from the regional airline People's Viennaline takes off from the airport on Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Wednesday Nov. 2, 2016. An Embraer 145 short-haul jet will connect the Friedrichshafen airport with the Swiss airport Altenrhein. The flight time for the around 20-kilometer-long route between the two regional airport is around eight minutes. (dpa via AP/Felix Kaestle)
A
n Austrian airline has begun what it claims is the world's shortest regular international connection — an eight-minute hop across Lake Constance.
The flight offered by People's Viennaline connects St. Gallen-Altenrhein in Switzerland with Friedrichshafen in southern Germany. It's part of a route that continues onward to the western German city of Cologne, but passengers can book only the short part for 40 euros ($44.10).
(Read also: Singapore Airlines to introduce longest non-stop flights to San Francisco)
German news agency dpa reported that environmentalists aren't thrilled by the new route, which began service Wednesday. It quoted Swiss Green Party politician Meinrad Gschwend saying he wants the flights banned.
The airline says driving around the lake for an hour would produce as much emissions as the short flight.
