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The Singapore Airlines Singapore to New York flight is 19 hours and only has premium economy and business. I have to make this trip fairly often and I prefer to take the direct flight as it’s simpler, faster and I have to pay extra for leg room either way. That said, if I had the means I would take business each time, because 19 hours in even the nicest economy seat can be tough.

Another factor besides comfort is that they can extend the flight time 1-2 hours by having fewer passengers and bags onboard, which of course means premium seats like SQ23/24.

Qantas is planning to launch 18–21 hour routes in 2026 with economy class, using modified A350-1000 with an extra fuel tank in the hold.

Are you talking about "Project Sunrise"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Route#Project_Sunrise

That's mostly not true as far as I've seen because most trans-pacific flyers are not willing/able to spend thousands of additional $ to fly in business class.