An Airbus A330 Voyager aircraft has broken the record for the fastest crossing between the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands, completing the 12,657 km journey in just 15 hours and nine minutes.
Voyager G-VYGM departs the UK on 2 June on its record-breaking flight to the Falkland Islands.
The feat, announced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 5 June, saw the AirTanker-operated Voyager (serial G-VYGM) break the South Atlantic Airbridge (SAA) record by 36 minutes that had been set by a Royal Air Force (RAF) BAC VC10 in 1987.
Captained by a former VC10 pilot and current RAF reservist pilot with 10 Squadron, Dave Hall, the Voyager flew directly from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands, departing the UK on 2 June.
The airbridge flight, which takes place twice a week, normally makes a scheduled stop in Cape Verde (or Ascension Island when the runway is operational) but due to the Covid-19 pandemic this lay-over was cancelled. The return leg on 5 June was also flown non-stop.
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