Flying from HongKong it went overhead Japan, then across the Pacific ocean flying over Hawaii to overhead San Francisco, then onwards across the North American Continent to overhead New York, flying still farther across the Atlantic Ocean to land at Heathrow Airport, London non-stop and in one giant leap lasting slightly less than 24 hours.
The trip, which broke the 16-minute flight time record of the Airbus 340 and also Boeing's 747-400's record from London to Sydney, flew 12,600 miles or more than half the circumference of the globe.
Flying at .83 Mach or 17 Mach less then the speed of sound, the 35 persons onboard, including 8 cockpit crew members, witnessed two sunrises, and even had scheduled sleep timings in the bunkers onboard.
Among the five Boeing pilots were Captain Susana Darcy, Boeing 777 test pilot, and Captain Frank Santoni, representing the Boeing Company.
Along with five Boeing pilots, Commander Asif Raza, Senior Vice President Flight operations PIA was in command and was assisted by Captain Mohammed Ilyas Malik, designated as check pilot Boeing 777 in PIA, to fly the aircraft.
A Singapore Airline pilot was also onboard, as Singapore Airline is evaluating buying this aeroplane after PIA.
The event was reminiscent of another such record breaking flight by PIA nearly four decades earlier, when Commander Abdullah Baig, the most famous pilot of PIA flying the newly manufactured Boeing 720, eased into a jet stream during cruise with consummate skill, to break the London-Karachi flight time record.