Why is Europe to Miami route same as route to more northerly airports?
Mar 19, 2019, 10:31 am
#1
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Why is Europe to Miami route same as route to more northerly airports?
Why do flights going from Europe to Miami take the same route as a plane day going to New York. Why don’t they take a more southern route direct to Florida.
Mar 19, 2019, 10:40 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Great Circle routing is the shortest routing. Maps are flat, the earth isn’t. If you look at a globe it will make sense. Maps are distorted because they are by nature, flat.
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Mar 19, 2019, 10:43 am
#3
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In addition to the GC routing mentioned above, it all depends on the time of year and how the jetstream is moving. In these cases where a Europe to MIA flight flies down the east coast, taking a more southerly route would most likely end up flying head on into the jetstream, and thus an even longer flight time, more fuel burn, etc.
Mar 19, 2019, 11:03 am
#4
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Great Circle routing is the shortest routing. Maps are flat, the earth isn’t. If you look at a globe it will make sense. Maps are distorted because they are by nature, flat.
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Mar 19, 2019, 11:15 am
#5
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Mar 19, 2019, 11:17 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2005
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I've definitely not always flown over the Northeast going to Europe from MIA - though I have sometimes. Madrid and Lisbon, for example, regularly route several hundred miles offshore. And because of winds, return flights are often much further south and east - I've flown over Bermuda several times ex Europe to MIA.
Fun fact for the flat-earthers....Maine is the closest US state to Africa.
Fun fact for the flat-earthers....Maine is the closest US state to Africa.
Mar 19, 2019, 11:59 am
#7
Join Date: May 2001
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But to the OP's point, living in Miami, my most common European landing is London, we often fly right up the East Coast of the US.
Thanks!
Mar 19, 2019, 12:42 pm
#8
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Winds aloft as well as Great Circle routes influence routing (as well as occasional political conditions). That’s how one can fly LAX-HKG and fly up the US and Canada west coast to s.e. Alaska before making the turn towards HKG.
Mar 19, 2019, 12:57 pm
#9
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Great Circle routing is the shortest routing. Maps are flat, the earth isn’t. If you look at a globe it will make sense. Maps are distorted because they are by nature, flat.
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Google “great circle mapper” and plug in a couple airports: I.e. FRA and MIA and it will show you the shortest route
Mar 19, 2019, 3:22 pm
#10
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The spherical shortest routes (geodesics) are visually closer than a straight line on a flat map. Winds could then either bunch them together or spread them apart.
Mar 19, 2019, 4:13 pm
#11
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Adding to the Great Circle Mapper detail provided by CPRich, MIA-JFK-FRA is only 113 miles farther than MIA-FRA.
Great Circle Mapper
Visual Treat: The Great Circle Route for Anchorage-Johannesburg goes right over Helsinki, Finland - not Miami.
Great Circle Mapper
Visual Treat: The Great Circle Route for Anchorage-Johannesburg goes right over Helsinki, Finland - not Miami.
Mar 19, 2019, 7:09 pm
#13
Join Date: Sep 2014
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You will also often see large variation going east vs going west, winds aloft play in quite a bit. Recall a flight to ICN that the route looked crazy in the morning when I looked at it, then captain explained the route was to avoid a 200+ headwind. Fortunately, the return trip took advantage of it, and we arrived close to 2 hours early.
Mar 19, 2019, 7:16 pm
#14
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