A direct flight goes from city to city (or point to point), such as Brussels, Belgium to New York, USA. Every journey has a flight number (see Unit 2 for more details). Travelers check in with their baggage at Brussels, board the aircraft an hour later and fly directly to one of New York's airports. Direct Flights with Interim Stops Some direct flights land at another city en route. This usually happens on long haul flights - even the largest aircraft need to refuel! Take flight QF32, departing from London, United Kingdom to Sydney, Australia departing at 1215. The aircraft lands at Singapore at 0650 the following day (local time) and disembarks travelers who only have tickets from London to Singapore. The plane refuels, takes on supplies, often a new crew and even new travelers with tickets from Singapore to Sydney. About an hour later the flight takes off and lands at Sydney at 6.50pm+1 (local time). Flight QF32 from London to Sydney is a direct flight (one flight numer) with one intermediate stop at Singapore. 
Travelers who are not leaving the flight at an intermediate stop are called 'through passengers' and they may have the opportunity to get off the aircraft at the stop, do some shopping or take a walk. They will then re-board the aircraft with the passengers who are starting their trip at Singapore. Naturally, a direct flight with one or more stops will take longer than a direct flight with no stops, as each stop adds 1 to 1 ½ hours to the total length of the journey. Therefore, most travelers prefer non-stop flights. If we use OAG Travel Planner to look for a flight from London to Sydney on a Thursday we will get a screen like the one below:
The single red aircraft indicates that the flight QF32 is the earliest direct flight from London to Sydney on that date. Sometimes the direct routes are inconvenient for a business traveler, eg the only direct flight from Belfast UK to Paris, France on this date in March departs at 1320, arriving in Paris at 1600 - not convenient for a day of business. 
However by clicking the 'more flights' option, OAG Travel Planner displays all connecting flights and gives the earliest option departing at 0645 and changing planes in London Heathrow with the business traveller arriving in Paris by 12.25pm. 
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