Trivia: shortest domestic flights over land

[A S Leib]

Excluding flights involving different landmasses, what are the shortest domestic flights? Frankfurt has flights to Stuttgart (40 minutes, 157 km) and Düsseldorf (50 minutes, 187 km) (and the same time but 283 km to Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg; I mostly specified domestic flights to avoid cases between neighbouring countries with limited land routes between them). The two I can think of in Great Britain are Wick to Aberdeen (40 minutes, 148 km / 92 miles, but over twice that distance by road or rail) and Heathrow to Manchester (65 minutes, 244 km / 152 miles).

 

[sh24]

I don't think it runs now, but I took PHL-ABE (Allentown) pre Covid which is 55 miles/89km

 

[SuspectUsual]

Mack Air do (or at least did) Victoria Falls to Kasane which is 20 minutes and just under 50 miles

 

[sh24]

Mack Air do (or at least did) Victoria Falls to Kasane which is 20 minutes and just under 50 miles

But that's Zim to Botswana.

 

[Gloster]

I think that there are some fairly short ones in Norway: Bodø-Narvik for example.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Now gone but I remember taking a flight that went Heathrow-Plymouth-Newquay back in the 1980s. About 30-40 miles as the crow (or plane) flies? Not sure if the Plymouth-Newquay leg was bookable and don't think it was available in the return direction.

 

[SuspectUsual]

But that's Zim to Botswana.

Of course it is, sorry. Somehow I managed to interpret the question as being about flights over land rather than water! Sometimes I am a proper idiot

 

[Oxfordblues]

I once unearthed in Lytham Library a consultants' report dating from the 1920s in the early days of aviation. Flying was seen as the way forward even for local journeys and airports were envisaged at Preston, Lancaster, Kirkham, Fleetwood and Blackpool. In the event only the latter was actually built and the ultra-short-haul network never materialised.

 

[Topological]

This briefly made me think about Swansea to Exeter at 64.6 miles.

Swansea Airport to launch first passenger flights in 20 years​

It is the first of many improvements to come, those behind the airport say​

Swansea Airport has announced it is launching flights to and from Exeter this year, the first scheduled passenger flights from the airport in almost 20 years. An announcement was made on its social media page, explaining how the move will provide interchange access to airports.

There have been no scheduled passenger flights operating from Swansea Airport since 2004. Passengers who fly to Exeter from Swansea will be able to use the airport as an interchange, getting connecting flights to Spain, Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Link: 2023 link to Wales Online

Of course this also included water, so it is not an answer to the thread.

 

[Dai Corner]

If we're including historic services, ones which continue to a more distant destination and ones which fly over the sea between two points on the same landmass could have Bristol-Cardiff which is 27 miles. I remember doing that in the mid 1970s on the way to/from the Channel Islands.


Also, according to Wikipedia, Dan-Air operated its first year-round scheduled service in 1960, linking Bristol and Cardiff with Liverpool.

 

[W-on-Sea]

I did once take a KLM flight that went Amsterdam - Glasgow - Edinburgh, although I'm not sure whether it was possible just to book for travel just between the two Scottish cities (the two airports are about 48 miles apart by road)

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I think that there are some fairly short ones in Norway: Bodø-Narvik for example.

Yes Widerøe operate quite a few short routes to unlikely places under PSO contracts - Trondheim to Namsos (c 100 miles) is probably the shortest (over land).

Now gone but I remember taking a flight that went Heathrow-Plymouth-Newquay back in the 1980s. About 30-40 miles as the crow (or plane) flies? Not sure if the Plymouth-Newquay leg was bookable and don't think it was available in the return direction.

Air Southwest (now defunct) ran flights Manchester - Plymouth in the 2000s calling at Bristol. Both legs were bookable.

 

[Ken X]

Another historic service was the Gatwick to Heathrow shuttle. Around 30 miles and 15 mins. Went by the name of Airlink.

 

[daodao]

Excluding flights involving different landmasses, what are the shortest domestic flights? Frankfurt has flights to Stuttgart (40 minutes, 157 km) and Düsseldorf (50 minutes, 187 km) (and the same time but 283 km to Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg; I mostly specified domestic flights to avoid cases between neighbouring countries with limited land routes between them). The two I can think of in Great Britain are Wick to Aberdeen (40 minutes, 148 km / 92 miles, but over twice that distance by road or rail) and Heathrow to Manchester (65 minutes, 244 km / 152 miles).

Wick to Aberdeen is essentially "over water", as is another short flight between 2 points in mainland Scotland, from Glasgow Abbotsinch to Campbeltown.

 

[AlterEgo]

Mokulele Airlines runs seasonal flights in Hawaii between Molokai and Kalaupapa - which is on a nature reserve with no road access.

The distance between runway ends is 8.22 miles. To make things even more interesting, both runways are basically aligned with one another, meaning in favourable winds a departure off runway 5 at Molokai means you don't have to change course in order to land on runway 5 at Kalaupapa.

This is the shortest scheduled domestic flight on the same land mass I've come across.

 

[WestCoast]

I did once take a KLM flight that went Amsterdam - Glasgow - Edinburgh, although I'm not sure whether it was possible just to book for travel just between the two Scottish cities (the two airports are about 48 miles apart by road)

During part of the covid pandemic, Loganair operated services Edinburgh - Glasgow - Southampton or Glasgow - Edinburgh - Southampton and you could buy a ticket solely between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Steve Marsh has a video on YouTube about it if you do a search.

 

[gingerheid]

I felt the answer would lie in somewhere like Alaska, Greenland or Nunavut that doesn't have a road network. There's a lot that meet the letter but not the spirit of the original post by being on the same land mass but across bays. From looking at a map I think the shortest over land might be Tin City to Wales in Alaska; 6 miles and appears to have a monthly summer service by Bering Air (but I think the last one of the year was today)! Stebbins to St Michael seems to have regular flights, and looks like about 6 miles too. Shungnak to Kobuk is also regular, and about the same distance.

 

[Airline Man]

I once did Eindhoven to Rotterdam on a KLM Cityhopper F28. All of fifteen minutes On a jet.

 

[sk688]

Aer Lingus Regional used to Dublin-Cork and I believe Dublin-Belfast as well , although may be corrected on the latter

 

[etr221]

I don't know how long ago BA withdrew Heathrow to Birmingham flights...

At one stage not too long ago there were flights from Milano Linate (LIN) (fairly central) to Milano Malpensa (MXP) (the new international airport - a good way out)

 

[75A]

Air Lingus & Ryan Air still both do flights between Belfast & Dublin,,but as a Pensioner the train is much cheaper (free)..

 

[Lloyds siding]

I once unearthed in Lytham Library a consultants' report dating from the 1920s in the early days of aviation. Flying was seen as the way forward even for local journeys and airports were envisaged at Preston, Lancaster, Kirkham, Fleetwood and Blackpool. In the event only the latter was actually built and the ultra-short-haul network never materialised.

The first scheduled domestic air service in Britain was Blackpool-Southport-Manchester, starting in 1919, however it ceased in 1920.
The Science and Industry Museum has info here Link to Science and Industry Museum blog: Avro and early civil aviation

 

[etr221]

A look on Timetable World, at the June 1939 ABC (which had Air Pages) showed flights between Allderney, Guernsey and Jersey; and between Portsmputh and Ryde (IoW) - 8 minutes!, for 5/- single, 9/6 return or 8/6 day return - other flights to the island were available. Croydon to Heston had a table, but was shown as "Service Suspended" .
Western Airways had services Bristol-Cardiff-Swansea; Penzance (St Just)-Newquay-Barnstaple-Swansea; and Manchester-Birmingham-Bristol (Whitchurch)-Weston super Mare: the concept of stopping air services seems quite alien these days!

 

[AlastairFraser]

Aer Lingus Regional used to Dublin-Cork and I believe Dublin-Belfast as well , although may be corrected on the latter

Dublin to Kerry/Donegal must be a similar distance, at only around 257km DUB - KIR and around 223 km DUB-CFN.

 

[berneyarms]

Air Lingus & Ryan Air still both do flights between Belfast & Dublin,,but as a Pensioner the train is much cheaper (free)..

There are no scheduled flights between Dublin and Belfast, nor have there ever been, nor is that a domestic flight.

Pre-motorways, Aer Lingus Regional flew Dublin-Galway which would have been the shortest domestic Irish flight.

Of course back in the days of the Shannon stopover (ended in the mid-1990s), all transatlantic flights from Dublin had to stop at Shannon, which meant that you had a minimum of two Boeing 747 flights each day between Dublin and Shannon.

 

[superalbs]

Air Lingus & Ryan Air still both do flights between Belfast & Dublin,,but as a Pensioner the train is much cheaper (free)..

Do they?

 

[Mag_seven]

I'm sure either BA or British Midland operated a couple of flights a day between Heathrow and Leeds/Bradford and perhaps even East Midlands?

Also BA frequently fly empty between Heathrow and Gatwick to transfer planes but I guess that the OP is excluding such moves as passengers cannot be carried.

 

[AlterEgo]

I'm sure either BA or British Midland operated a couple of flights a day between Heathrow and Leeds/Bradford and perhaps even East Midlands?

They served Leeds Bradford until a few years ago now. East Midlands hasn't been served - at least not in recent memory!

I felt the answer would lie in somewhere like Alaska, Greenland or Nunavut that doesn't have a road network. There's a lot that meet the letter but not the spirit of the original post by being on the same land mass but across bays. From looking at a map I think the shortest over land might be Tin City to Wales in Alaska; 6 miles and appears to have a monthly summer service by Bering Air (but I think the last one of the year was today)! Stebbins to St Michael seems to have regular flights, and looks like about 6 miles too. Shungnak to Kobuk is also regular, and about the same distance.

Great finds. Now I have to go to Alaska.

 

[thejuggler]

I'm sure either BA or British Midland operated a couple of flights a day between Heathrow and Leeds/Bradford and perhaps even East Midlands?

British Midland were the regular provider 30 or so years ago, a flight I did once take. When BM went down BA took over the service, but poor numbers and pressure on Heathrow slots saw this removed.

There was a short period when there were Flybe services from LBA to Gatwick. Over the years there have also been flights to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Bristol, Newquay, Southampton (?).

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

There are no scheduled flights between Dublin and Belfast, nor have there ever been, nor is that a domestic flight.

I think Aer Arann attempted Dublin to Belfast in the noughties, but it only lasted a couple of months. Also didn't GNR(I) start the 'Enterprise' rail service in 1947, partly because of air competition?