What is it about ultra long haul flights that attracts so much media attention? The past couple weeks have seen a lot of long routes launched, including the new Qantas service between Perth and London.

Huge thanks to Cynthia Drescher for joining the team this week for the conversation!

That new 'Roo route is not the longest (and might not even qualify as a Kangaroo Route, depending on who you listen to). There's also the part where spending 17ish hours on the plane isn't especially new. Airlines have been running similar (and longer) flights for a while now. Including trips that are in economy class.

New Zealand is pretty much always a long-haul flight from wherever and this week announced Chicago as a new destination, teaming up with joint venture partner United Airlines for that service.

* Could Qantas be far behind with more US destinations?

* Will the "Project Sunrise" flights from Sydney to London materialize?

* What about Singapore Airlines and its promise of returning to NYC and Los Angeles nonstop? And a third US destination for them as well.

* Singapore Airlines also has a new 787-10, the first of the type ever to fly. And the "regional" business class product looks pretty nice, though regional doesn't always mean what you think it does.

* El Al is suing the Israeli government because its flights are longer than Air India's. That's awkward.

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