[jonlucc]

This is great data visualization of interesting data! I'm curious about the last graph; there seems to be something making some of the longest flights take more time/nm. Is that real or an artifact, and is there an explanation for the tail?

[jamesharding]

Great question! It is not an anomaly, it is very geographically specific.

Due the the Ukraine war (and my home base being in the UK), we have to fly the long way around to get to far-east destinations like Tokyo and Hong Kong. Flying outbound from London we have to fly down over Turkey (which adds about two hours of flight time).

Flying home from Tokyo with the ongoing airspace closure, if the the weather is suitable at the ETOPS airports enroute, it is actually quicker to fly home eastbound again, flying up over Alaska. A proper around-the-world in 4 days!

[rob74]

So for London-Tokyo the return route is completely different from the outbound route? Fascinating! I guess that has something to do with the jetstream (which only helps you when travelling eastbound)?

[jamesharding]

Exactly that! This is the only route that I know of where this is the case.

Looks like today’s flight home is following that route: https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW8/history/20250629...