That path is a great circle path, it's simply the shortest path across the face of the earth. It's not a flight plan or anything (but, being the shortest path,

That path is a great circle path, it's simply the shortest path across the face of the earth. It's not a flight plan or anything (but, being the shortest path, it's pretty close to what any given flight would follow). http://www.gcmap.com/faq/intro#definegc http://www.gcmap.com/faq/intro#definegc Also, because it's so far from land, there are special procedures that need to be in place, see eg. ETOPS.