Feb 10, 2016 · Flights from Europe to North America will take slightly longer and nudge up airline fuel costs if climate change strengthens high altitude winds as widely expected, a study said on Wednesday. The headwind into a stronger jet stream should lengthen westbound flights by about five minutes, slightly more than the time saved in the other direction to Europe with a tailwind, …
Jul 01, 2016 · Airplanes going from east to west will be slowed by the jet stream, using more fuel and taking longer to get across, so a course is chosen to avoid the strongest winds. The difference can be very significant, I've been on flights from NYC to London which take 6h 30m, and ones from London to NYC that take almost 9 hours.
Feb 11, 2016 · Transatlantic Flights Are Going To Get Even Worse Flying is no picnic. But a new study suggests accelerations in the jet stream due to climate change may make transatlantic flights take even longer
Feb 10, 2016 · Westbound Transatlantic Flights To Become Longer February 10, 2016 Flights from Europe to North America will take slightly longer and nudge up airline fuel costs if climate change strengthens high altitude winds as widely expected, a study showed.
A: The tracks across the Atlantic are determined daily to take into account the meteorological conditions of the moment. If there are strong winds, the eastbound tracks will be farther north to take advantage of them, while the westbound flights will be routed south to avoid the headwinds.Jun 24, 2013
Earth also has these winds, and because Earth rotates from west to east, jet streams also flow in that direction. Flights with these jet streams on their tails take less time to reach their destination than those facing these winds head on.Jan 17, 2022
Since the equator gets more sun than any other part, it will always have warmer air rising towards the north or south poles. ... This means that the air from the equator moving to the north or south poles will be moving faster than the ground it is over, resulting in winds always moving from the west to the east.Apr 24, 2018
The reason it took so much longer to fly back is the jet stream, a river of fast-moving air high up in the sky. ... Jet streams generally blow from the west to the east around the Earth, often following a meandering, curved path just like a river on land.Jan 25, 2021
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.Oct 28, 2019
The most prominent jet streams are the polar stream and subtropical streams, located at 60 and 30° north and south of the equator. The former is the stronger stream, causing much faster winds than the latter.Jan 8, 2021
What is the longest flight in the world by distance? The longest flight in the world by distance is QR921. Qatar Airlines' Auckland to Doha route comes in at 14,535 km/9,032 mi/7,848 nm.Dec 15, 2021
The real reason flights from west to east are quicker is down to jet streams. Jet streams are air pockets high up in the Earth's atmosphere which move in a wavy pattern from west to east. Should a plane find itself in a jet stream then it will travel at a faster speed with greater ease.Nov 5, 2019
They can be thousands of miles long and are found all over the earth. To be called a jet stream, the wind must be moving faster than 60 mph. Jet streams generally blow from the west to the east around the Earth, often following a meandering, curved path just like a river on land.
When pilots plan the route of their flights, they often use weather forecasts to find where the jet stream is blowing. When they fly from the east to the west, they try to plan their flight so the jet stream isn’t blowing against their airplane and giving them a bad headwind.
Airplane pilots measure speed in two different ways. First is airspeed – how fast the wind would feel if you stuck your hand out the window. The second is ground speed – how fast the plane is moving over the ground. When you fly in the jet stream, your airspeed always stays the same, but your ground speed can change a lot because the air around the plane is moving.
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. Why does it take longer to fly from east to west on an airplane? – Henry D, Age 7, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
More than just affecting average flight times, these jet streams have a major impact on flight routings and scheduling. Airlines will look at jet stream patterns each day and alter routes for their flights accordingly. Taking a longer physical distance route might make sense if you can piggyback on a strong tailwind.
The jet streams form at the transitions between circulation cells, driven by the Coriolis force. Image: Sleske via Wikimedia. These jet streams have a significant effect on aircraft. An aircraft traveling east can effectively pick up a tailwind speeding its journey.
The Earth rotates from west to east. And at quite some speed – at the Equator, rotational velocity is around 1,000 kilometers per hour. Thinking simply, that should make a westbound flight take less time, as the Earth is moving towards the aircraft.
In addition to this, winds are affected by solar heating and will flow from areas of high pressure to low pressure. Combined, these effects produce jet streams that move from west to east, but with an undulating pattern.
Likewise, a flight from London to Hong Kong is around 12 hours, while the return westbound is over an hour longer. Longer flight times for the return leg from the UK to the US. Image: Expedia.com.