lke2fly From United States of America, joined May 2011, 67 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 1343 times:
My stupid question is why do Asian, Russian and Arabic Airliners fly east from Los Angeles (LAX) some over US states others up to Canada Newfoundland and over the Atlantic Ocean, down towards Europe then down towards there country. Its seams like a long route instead of heading west over the Pacific Ocean at least on the global map it looks shorter. I saw these routes being taken on FlightAware from LAX.
tdscanuck From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 12709 posts, RR: 81 Reply 1, posted (6 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 1343 times:
Quoting lke2fly (Thread starter): My stupid question is why do Asian, Russian and Arabic Airliners fly east from Los Angeles (LAX) some over US states others up to Canada Newfoundland and over the Atlantic Ocean, down towards Europe then down towards there country.
Which specifc destination are you thinking about? The shortest route for LAX-DXB is over the pole (east from LA): http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=lax-dxb
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21462 posts, RR: 24 Reply 3, posted (6 months 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 1343 times:
Winds play a big factor. Routes can vary widely from day to day depending on the location of the jetstream. Distance isn't the only consideration. It often makes sense to fly a significantly longer route if it benefits from strong tailwinds. That's why many flights from the east coast of North America to Asia use the shortest polar routings westbound, almost overflying the North Pole, but on the eastbound trip they take the traditional transpacific route near Japan and Alaska.
lke2fly From United States of America, joined May 2011, 67 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (6 months 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 1343 times:
Thank you very much to all of you that replied. I now understand how airline routes work. I was just a little confused but you all cleared it up. Thank you
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