Longest women staffed flight by Air India

Air India's all-women crew before take off. Photo / Twitter, Air India

India's state airline Air India is operating what it claims to be the world's longest flight staffed only by women from New Delhi to San Francisco to mark International Women's Day.

A team of four pilots and 10 cabin crew were on board the Boeing 777-LR that departed Delhi early on Sunday, airline spokesman G Prasada Rao said.

The longest all women flt #AI173 took off with pride and glory! Women power soars high with #AirIndia. #WorldRecord pic.twitter.com/CcFi8EdrNl

— Air India (@airindiain) March 6, 2016

The non-stop flight will cover some 12,300 kilometres in around 16 hours. It will return on International Women's Day on March 8.

The entire flight operation - including check-in, ground handling and traffic control - was handled by women.

"We will soon file for the Guinness Record for the world's longest all-women operated flight," Rao said.

The airline ran newspaper ads on Sunday claiming the all-women flight was a record and that it would operate 22 flights with all-women crews on March 8.

"The flight is a symbol of women empowerment and it will encourage women to step out of their comfort zone and succeed in male-dominated arenas too," pilot Ramya Kirti Gupta told broadcaster NDTV before take-off.

Air India launched the flight from India to the US west coast, among the longest scheduled routes in the world, in December.

Emirates launched a flight between Dubai and Auckland last week, reportedly the world's longest non-stop flight by distance, which covers some 14,200 kilometres.

- AAP