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[ad_1] Image copyright SIA The battle to offer the world's longest non-stop flight steps up a gear on Thursday, when a new Singapore-to-New York service takes off. Singapore Airlines is relaunching the service five years after it withdrew because it had become too expensive. It will cover more than 15,000km and is scheduled to take just under 19 hours. Qantas launched a 17-hour non-stop service from Perth to London earlier this year, while Qatar runs a 17.5-hour service between Auckland and Doha. Have passengers been snapping up the tickets? The flight from Changi Airport to Newark's international airport will be taking off amid much fanfare and with barely a seat to spare. Singapore Airlines said there was demand for customers for non-stop services which help cut travelling times compared with flights which have a stopover. The airline told the BBC that business class seat...

[ad_1] Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The United Airlines plane (not pictured) landed safely in Sydney A United Airlines flight has landed safely at Sydney Airport after issuing a mayday call due to low fuel reserves, authorities have said. Flight UA839, carrying 194 people, had been on a 15-hour flight to the city from Los Angeles. Police said they activated a "full emergency response" shortly before the jet landed at 06:36 local time on Thursday (20:36 Wednesday GMT). United Airlines called it a mechanical issue and said all on board were safe. "The aircraft taxied to the gate and all customers disembarked normally," the airline said in a statement. The pilot of the 787-900 Dreamliner had earlier issued a mayday call due to low fuel levels, said Airservices Australia, the nation...