Some people love flying, some people hate it. For most of us, it's little more than the fastest and most convenient way of getting to a far flung location. However, the flight between New York and Singapore feels far from speedy or convenient.

Clocking in at 18 hours and 50 minutes, the journey is the longest direct flight you can take around the world, covering 9,537 miles from tarmac to tarmac.

Perhaps just as striking as the daunting travel time, is the route the aircraft takes from JFK airport to Singapore Changi Airport.

The route heads almost directly north from Singapore, crossing over Cambodia and then over the Chinese city of Chengdu, cutting through Mongolia and Siberia, before towards the Arctic.

From there, the aircraft skirts round Greenland and flies over the Canadian city of Iqaluit in Baffin Island, itself a frequent diversion stop-off for long-haul flights.

According to Globehunters, you can get a seat on a direct flight for a steep £2,169.

Social media users are often left scratching their heads as to why the flight path is not a direct line between the two airports. Many are often left taken aback at the surprising route heading towards the Arctic.

However, the curvature of the earth explains why the plane needs to fly the route it does. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, if a plane flew from Singapore in a straight line on a map towards New York for 18 hours and 50 minutes it would only reach Denver, Colorado.

In reality, the quickest way to get from of the locations to the other is via a curved line over the curved earth, hence the bizarre looking route on a 2D map.