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Long haul flights: you either love them or hate them. In-flight movies, interesting meal selections and hours and hours of trying to amuse yourself, or even better, attempting to get some sleep despite all the noise and hustle and bustle of the other passengers.

A few years ago, if you were travelling a long distance, you would usually have to makes stops along your route or even change to connecting flights to make it to your destination. These days, however, developments in aviation means planes now have long-range capabilities and don’t have to stop for fuelling quite as often.

So begins our investigation into the 5 longest non-stop flights around the world, with the top two journeys clocking up nearly 19 hours in the air. Unsurprisingly, it is the American destinations that feature heavily here, in fact a U.S airport is involved in each of our 5 flights.

Changi, Singapore to New York, USA

Our first and longest flight comes courtesy of Singapore Airlines and makes the journey from Changi Airport in Singapore to Newark Airport in New York. The flight covers a little under 10,000 miles and takes a staggering 18 hours and 40 minutes from departure to landing.

The flight, using an Airbus A340-500, was first introduced in 2004 and proved so popular that the service now runs daily flights and is often used by travellers flying en route to Australia. The return journey to Singapore, though the same distance, actually takes 15 minutes less thanks to prevailing winds.

Changi, Singapore to Los Angeles, USA

Our second journey is also provided by Singapore Airlines and connects Singapore with Los Angeles. Like our last entry, the airline uses an Airbus A340-500 and the service was introduced in 2004. The distance is slightly less, covering just under 9,000 miles and taking around 18 hours and 5 minutes.

There are 5 flights a week departing from Singapore but if 18 hours seems just a little too long for you, then consider taking the flight during summer. Strangely, the seasons and subsequent weather conditions mean that the quoted flight time is 18 hours and 5 minutes in winter, but only 17 hours and 20 minutes during summer.

Johannesburg, South Africa to Atlanta, USA

Next we go to Johannesburg in South Africa, where we take Delta Airline’s service to Atlanta. Delta Airlines are primarily based in Atlanta and provide a wide selection of flights to destinations around the globe. However, this is the only direct flight from Atlanta to South Africa without taking in any stopovers, so it remains a popular choice.

The journey itself covers around 8,500 miles and takes 17 hours and 5 minutes to complete. Delta Airlines use the Boeing 777-200LR and offer one daily flight. Quite a young service, these flights were only introduced in 2009 and the route has become a good choice for those who don’t want to make connecting flights.

Dubai, UAE to Los Angeles, USA

For our next long non-stop flight we put two excessively bustling cities head to head, from the skyscrapers of Dubai to the gateway to Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Dubai to LA service is run by Emirates and has proved so popular that they now run 2 flights a day. The journey itself covers 8,339 miles, takes around 16 hours and 30 minutes and like our previous entry form Delta Airlines, makes use of the Boeing 777-2000LR.

This service was introduced back in 2008 and was part of Emirates expansion in America. The Los Angeles service compliments their other American destinations including Houston and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

Sydney, Australia to Dallas, USA

Our fifth and final entry is relatively new, only being introduced in May 2011 and is the Qantas Airlines service from Sydney to Dallas. Landing at Dallas’ Fort Worth Airport, the journey covers just over 8,500 miles.

Qantas use the Boeing 747-400ER aircraft for the flight and offer 4 services a week to Dallas. Despite being one of longest journeys in regards of distance, the flight itself only takes around 15 hours and 25 minutes.

The service was introduced to replace the original Sydney to San Francisco service and has proved very popular for Qantas. Interestingly, only the Sydney to Dallas service is non-stop, on your return journey to Australia, the service stops at Brisbane to refuel. This is due to prevailing headwinds over the Pacific that cause the aircraft to use more fuel.

Surprisingly enough there are many more long non-stop flights to choose from and although the thought of reaching your destination without any stopovers is very tempting, seats on non-stop flights can often be slightly more expensive than other flights.

Airlines often have to reduce passenger numbers, so they can use the weight carrying more fuel. For this reason, it is definitely worth doing some research before you book to make sure you get the best deals.