Another reason that planes may not fly directly west to Australia is that airlines look to cut fueling costs by taking more fuel stops in airports across the different airports in Asia. There are few airplanes that could handle a transpacific flight, but a flight of this caliber usually lasts between 11 to 12 hours.
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.
Why can't you fly west from America to Australia? The primary reason airplanes don't fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn't flat. Rather, it's spherical.
Air has mass, and from Newton's third law it follows that the wing's downward push results in an equal and opposite push back upward, which is lift. The Newtonian account applies to wings of any shape, curved or flat, symmetrical or not. It holds for aircraft flying inverted or right-side up.
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.
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?
Airlines quickly realized the value of jet streams and began implementing them while planning routes. Since the jet streams flow from west to east, they make one leg of the journey much faster (when flying with the stream) and one slower (against the stream).
The primary reason airplanes don't fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn't flat. Rather, it's spherical. As a result, straight routes don't offer the shortest distance between two locations.
Because it is more likely for storms to occur over bodies of water than on land surfaces, airlines plan most of their flights to spend the least amount of time over the Pacific Ocean. Pacific waters are known for turbulent weather and thunderstorms, making it unsafe for a plane to fly over in the first place.
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.
Thanks to the low visibility and undeveloped infrastructure, flying over Antarctica is extremely difficult. Specifically, because of the strong magnetic fields that surround the polar regions, navigating there, no matter how well-equipped the airplane is in terms of instrumentation, can be particularly challenging.
Popular Australia to USA Flight Routes
A handful of airlines offer direct flights between Sydney and Los Angeles, including Delta and Qantas. If you're travelling from Australia and wish to fly even deeper into the US, the Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth route is your best option.
The airline will launch the flights – which will take up to a whopping 22 hours – in 2025, connecting the two major hubs directly to the east coast of Australia for the first time. In 2018, Qantas broke records with its direct flight from London to Perth, which takes – in comparison – a paltry 17 hours.
Tim Morgan, a commercial pilot writing for Quora says aircraft can fly above 40,000 feet, and hence it is possible to fly over Mount Everest which stands at 29,031.69 feet. However, typical flight routes do not travel above Mount Everest as the mountains create unforgiving weather.
The primary reason airplanes don't fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn't flat. Rather, it's spherical.
When choosing where to go for your vacation, choose routes that fly over large bodies of water or large areas of land for less turbulence. However, journeys over the North Atlantic Ocean can have more bumps because of the high winds caused by the jet stream.
airplanes generally fly from the U.S. across the Pacific to Australia because it usually saves time and fuel, and is considered safe, especially with modern aircraft.
There is also a risk of mistaken identity in or near the ZKKP/Pyongyang FIR boundary, as North Korea are threatening to actively shoot down reconnaissance aircraft in their airspace. The US prohibits flights across all North Korean airspace, including the oceanic part of the ZKKP/Pyongyang FIR over the Sea of Japan.
How many airlines fly non-stop from Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD)? Three airlines. Hawaiian Airlines, Jetstar and Qantas have non-stop flights to Sydney.
The short answer is, no, it's not illegal to fly over Antarctica. But there are practical considerations that make it challenging for regular airlines to navigate across the land. In many parts of Antarctica, there's limited or no infrastructure, no landing strips, and obviously no refuelling stations for planes.
Westray and Papa Westray, Scotland
At number one, we have a narrow stretch of water which separates the Orkney islands of Westray and Papa Westray. The flight, operated by LoganAir has been in use for over 50 years and only takes 2 minutes which makes it the shortest flight in the world.
Aircraft move through the atmosphere with the Earth's rotation, so its speed is not affected . What would affect aircraft speed is the wind at that altitude, which can cause a flight from London to New Jersey to be two hours longer than the other way.
It is the rotation of the Earth that is causing the longer flight times, but not because it's moving towards or away from the flying aircraft. It is instead due to its influence on wind patterns – the so-called high-altitude jet streams.