British Airways to make longest route daily, add Buenos Aires stop

British Airways is changing its longest route. The London to Santiago de Chile service will go daily, up from three to four flights a week, and it will no longer fly nonstop. Aircraft will stop in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, along the way.

The timing is not settled. British Airways says only that the change takes effect in spring.

The first leg, London Heathrow to Buenos Aires Ezeiza, takes about 11 hours and 35 minutes. After a stop of 1 hour and 50 minutes, the flight continues to Santiago, putting travellers on their way just over 15 hours in total.

The aircraft changes too: a Boeing 777-200ER replaces the Boeing 787-9.

The routing is not entirely new. British Airways flew to Santiago via Buenos Aires until 2000, using the Boeing 747-400 at the time. Its network lists London to Santiago as its longest segment at 11,620 kilometres, though that distance is too short to rank among the world's ten longest scheduled flights.