WHY DO TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHTS PASS OVER GREENLAND?
- Long-haul flights often appear to take detours over Greenland or Iceland.
- Great circle routes are curved for maximum efficiency and the shortest travel time.
- Great circle routes, jet streams, and Earth's roundness explain why flights may seem indirect.
When passengers fly transatlantic or transpacific routes, they often notice that the flight map route does not follow a straight line. Instead, it sometimes appears as if the aircraft is taking a roundabout path, such as passing over Greenland or Iceland. Nevertheless, there exist several explanations behind this, and the answer is more straightforward than first thought.
The shortest distance
Many long-haul flights originating from the United States or Canada bound for Europe commonly fly over Greenland or Iceland.
Take, for instance, Virgin Atlantic's route between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which passes over Greenland. Or consider Air France's flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) and Mexico City International Airport (MEX). Although this flight does not pass directly over Greenland, it still comes very close, seemingly veering off course to stay near land.
While a cursory glance at the map might suggest that a straight path would expedite the journey, the flight's trajectory reveals otherwise. It is a common belief among frequent flyers that aircraft veer off course over oceans to remain near land in case of emergencies. However, this notion is not entirely accurate.
In reality, the curvature of these flight paths is driven by the pursuit of efficiency rather than emergency contingency planning. Those familiar with aviation or geography may already know that this is because planes typically fly the "great circle" route, which represents the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere.
By adhering to the shortest distance between departure and destination points, airlines aim to minimize travel time, enhancing the overall efficiency of long-haul flights.
Explaining great circle routes
- Distortion of the Earth's roundness in flattened maps
- Three-dimensional mapping
- Latitude and longitude lines
- Jet stream
Great circle routes or geodesic routes, as explained by GISgeography, may look longer on 2D maps. Indeed, these routes can be confusing on flat maps because the Earth's roundness gets distorted when flattened.
This makes latitude and longitude lines stretch apart and makes the routes look odd. The Earth's round shape and its slight bulge around the middle also play a role. Therefore, flying in a curve towards the poles is actually shorter than flying straight.
It is also important to mention another factor airlines consider when planning flight paths: the jet stream.
Jet streams are bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe. They impact weather, air travel, and many other things that affect our atmosphere, according to SciJinks.
These high-altitude air currents are located near the upper reaches of the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where the majority of weather phenomena take place.
The Earth has four main jet streams, two in each hemisphere, and thanks to the Earth's rotation, they mostly flow west to east. The two most important for airlines are the polar jet stream, which forms near the Arctic Circle, and the subtropical jet stream near the equator. This implies that flying in the same direction as the jet stream can reduce flight time. Conversely, flying against the jet stream will result in slower travel.
A report by USA Today explains that the routes over the Atlantic are adjusted daily to accommodate current meteorological conditions. When strong winds are present, eastbound tracks are positioned further north to harness their benefits, while westbound flights are directed southward to evade headwinds.
Why It's Quicker To Fly East Than West
Airlines plan their routes to take advantage of geophysical phenomena.Examples of transpacific great circle routes
It is not only transatlantic flights that follow great circle routes; the same applies to transpacific routes. For example, a flight from Los Angeles to Beijing will pass over the Aleutian Islands and the easternmost portions of Russia. Here are more examples of transpacific flights following great circle routes.
Many long-haul flights between Japan and the US, or vice versa, cross the Pacific Ocean instead of traveling over land through Asia, Europe, and the Atlantic Ocean. For example, one such flight is United Airlines' route from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND), following the great circle, just like transatlantic routes do.
Another great example is Cathay Pacific's route between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), which also flies north and passes over the Bering Sea instead of flying in a "straight" line.
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The grand journey across the Pacific Ocean.Interestingly, in 2019, United Airlines operated the most transpacific flights. Delta, Japan Air Lines, Korean Air, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Cathay Pacific, and Air Canada followed in the rankings, measured by the number of transpacific flights, according to a 2022 report by Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
It is worth noting that the busiest routes across the Pacific mostly involved leisure spots like Hawaii and Guam, often from Japan, as per the 2022 report. If we disregard these island markets, the busiest route was between Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo in 2022.
Transpacific Triumphs: Breaking Down The Lucrative US-Japan Airline Market
This July, the volume of US-Japan air connectivity will reach 90% of pre-pandemic levels.What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever noticed that your flight path looks longer than it actually is? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below.
2024-05-03T23:02:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd