Why do long flights go north?

Despite what many people believe, the answer actually has nothing to do with safety. The real answer is because going north may actually provide a shorter route. This is called Great Circle Navigation. Because of the curvature of the Earth, the shortest route between two locations may appear much longer on a flat map.



Long-distance flights often appear to head "out of the way" toward the North Pole because they are following a Great Circle Route, which is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. Because the Earth is wider at the equator and tapers at the poles, a straight line drawn on a flat map is actually a longer path than a curve that follows the Earth's natural bulge. By flying more northerly latitudes, airlines can save thousands of miles and several hours of flight time on transcontinental journeys, such as those from London to Los Angeles or New York to Hong Kong. Additionally, these routes often allow planes to catch the Jet Stream, powerful high-altitude winds that can provide a significant "tailwind," further increasing fuel efficiency and reducing travel time. While it looks unusual on a 2D screen, it is the most direct 3D path possible.

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Flight plans need to account for the curvature of the earth when they are created. Since the earth is three-dimensional, it would be impossible not to fly in an arc. Another reason that planes would choose to fly in a trajectory that resembles an arc is to account for the amount of traffic that will be in the air.

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There are no economically significant routes that would require flying over Antarctica. The southern hemisphere has a much smaller population than the northern, and there's almost no permanent habitation more than 45 degrees south. That's all.

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What is the longest flight in the world by distance? The longest flight in the world by distance is New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) on Singapore Airlines clocking in at 9,537 miles. What plane can fly the farthest in the world?

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The most common reason is that there are no airstrips or airports on many of the small islands, so if a plane had to make an emergency landing, it would be difficult to find a place to land. Additionally, the Pacific Ocean is vast and remote, so if a plane were to go down, it would be very difficult to find.

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That's because it is, and there is a very simple reason for it. Despite what many people believe, the answer actually has nothing to do with safety. The real answer is because going north may actually provide a shorter route. This is called Great Circle Navigation.

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It's been established that the Pacific Ocean is big ... really big. And with greater distances come greater costs since the plane needs more fuel. Executive Flyers writes that while you could just charge passengers more to fly that distance, this may lead to lots of unhappy customers and airlines losing out on sales.

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The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route is the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world. Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes, and actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record for the fastest flight is 53 seconds.

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The twice-weekly Air Canada service between London Heathrow and St John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, is the flight with the shortest route across the Atlantic, stretching just 2,315 miles and taking under five hours.

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When flying over land, of course it is more likely that there will be more airfields closer to the aircraft at any given time. However, because of lessons learned from its history and the improvements in aircraft and engine reliability, crossing the oceans is deemed as safe as flying over land.

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The simple answer is yes, pilots do, and are allowed to sleep during flight but there are strict rules controlling this practice. Pilots would only normally sleep on long haul flights, although sleep on short haul flights is permitted to avoid the effects of fatigue.

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New York City - Abu Dhabi via Etihad Airways The world's most expensive one-way airline ticket will set travelers back about $66,000. The reward is a first-class seat on Etihad Airways from New York City (JFK) to Abu Dhabi (AHU).

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This depends on the size of the plane, its efficiency, and how fast it's flying. A modern Boeing 747 can fly about 15,000 km (9,500 miles) when it's flying at 900 kmh (550 mph). This means it can fly non stop for almost 16 hours!

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TWA flight 800, flight of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) jumbo jet airliner that broke up over the Atlantic Ocean and went down about 8 miles (13 km) off the coast of Long Island, near East Moriches, New York, on the evening of July 17, 1996. All 230 people on board died in the crash.

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