If you think spending half a day in an airplane to travel to other side of the globe is a long time, consider the early days of aviation and the Kangaroo route.

         The Kangaroo route is the Sydney, Australia to London, England route that has been in existence since 1947.

         Today, QF1, Qantas Airways’ flagship route to London from Sydney takes 24 hours and 30 minutes in an ultra modern Airbus A380 and includes a stopover in Singapore. QF2, the return journey, takes a slightly shorter 22 hours and 5 minutes thanks to the tailwinds and also stops in Singapore.

         But in the early days of the route, fights took days with stops in Darwin, Singapore, Kolkata, Karachi, Cairo, and Tripoli with passengers spending the night in Singapore and Cairo.

         It wasn’t until 1971 and the launch of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet that London to Sydney could be done in one stop.

         If you were stuck in an airplane for more than 12 hours, it has significant impacts on your body beyond jetlag You have worry about deep vein thrombosis, swollen feet, dehydration, to name a few things.

         But today’s new ultra long-haul carriers are designed with your health in mind. In the past few years, Airbus launched the Airbus A350 and Boeing the Boeing 787.

         These aircrafts are lighter, make use of composite materials, and has a self-regulation pressure monitor to ensure your comfort at all times.

         I have flown both and prefer the Airbus A350 because the biggest thing I have noticed on those planes is that my nose does not feel as dry as the Sahara after a long flight as it tends to be situation on almost all of the other airplane types.

         It is no coincidence that the A350 and Boeing 787 are used on two of the three longest commercial flights in the world. Singapore Airlines uses an ultra long range model of the A350 on the Newark to Singapore route which clocks in at a staggering 18 hours and 45 minutes non-stop. Qantas Airways uses the Boeing 787 on its non-stop flights between Perth and London which takes about 17 hours and 20 minutes.

         While the Qantas flight as a traditional layout of business, premium economy, and economy, Singapore uses a special layout of only business and premium economy to ensure greater comfort on this ultra long-haul flight.

         A roundtrip on the Newark to Singapore route also gives you the unique experience of circumnavigating the earth because from Newark the flights travel east across the Atlantic, over Europe, into the Middle East, over India, across the Indian Ocean and into Singapore.

         The return flight leaves from Singapore and travels up the Malaysia coast before veering over Japan and then Russia, into Alaska, over Canada, and into Newark Airport.

         If you are flying long distances, pay attention in the flight options to the type of aircraft the carrier is using. My recommendation is to use the Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 if they are options.