How is it possible that an indirect flight is shorter than a direct one?
Got a very odd result from Kayak when searching for some flights. It claims that the indirect route, including stop-over time, is faster than the direct one. Is this even possible or an error?
Going direct from YUL to PLS takes 7 hours and 5 minutes while making a 1 hour and 21 minute stop in Toronto shorten the duration to 6 hours and 35 minutes as shown above. Flights all on Air Canada.
Now basic geometry says the shortest path on a plane is a straight line but since the earth is curved, it must not be so but could the difference be so great as to eclipse a 1h21m layover? Notice the return leg has a 7 hour layover, so it is indeed faster to go direct.
Best Answer
I had a similar issue on Kayak recently. It was showing a direct LAS-CDG flight which surprised me a lot. It turned out to be a flight with a connection in SLC. The two legs had the same flight number, but different aircraft.
As Kayak retrieve offers from partner sites, it apparently happens that some of the information is sometimes lost in transit (either between the airline and the partner site, or between the partner site and Kayak), and a flight with a stop (which actually looks more like a connection than a stop since the aircraft was different) is shown as non-stop.
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What is the difference between direct and indirect flights?
Non-stop flights behave exactly as they sound; you'll fly straight from one airport to another, with no stops along the way. Direct flights, on the other hand, aren't quite as convenient. While the flight number doesn't change, the term \u201cdirect\u201d means the plane may make one or more stops along its route.Which flights are cheaper direct or indirect?
Often, direct flights are less expensive than nonstop flights, but not always. If you have a choice between a direct or a nonstop and the price is the same, take the nonstop!What is a indirect flight?
Indirect flight muscles are found in more advanced insects such as true flies. Indirect flight muscles are connected to the upper (tergum) and lower (sternum) surfaces of the insect thorax. A second set of muscles attach to the front and back of the thorax.Why Connecting Flights are better than Direct Flights? How to travel to a city in one day?
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