Air India on Monday said it flew the “world’s longest” all-women-operated flight from Delhi to San Francisco. The flight, which travelled a distance of around 14,500 kilometre in close to 17 hours, was operated as part of International Women’s Day celebrations.

The non-stop Delhi-San Francisco flight took off from the national capital on March 6. “This year for the first time, on the world’s longest non-stop flight, entire flight operations from cockpit crew to cabin crew, check-in staff, doctor, customer care staff, ATC (air traffic control) and the entire ground handling... were handled by women,” Air India said in a release. Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said it was a historic flight and “the longest operated by all-women crew”. “The airline has immense respect for women and it is a symbol of women empowerment,” he added. The flight was under the command of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh, along with First Officers Ramya Kirti Gupta and Amrit Namdhari.