3 ms·
> CAN-LAX is 6,284 nm. Just add a refueling stop at ANC, the same as most cargo flights today (and the same as most passenger flights in the past). According
by Turing_Machine 4y ago
> CAN-LAX is 6,284 nm.
Just add a refueling stop at ANC, the same as most cargo flights today (and the same as most passenger flights in the past).
According to a Great Circle mapper, CAN-ANC-LAX is only about 250 km longer than CAN-LAX.
- snovv_crash 4y agoDescending and climbing again will take a lot of fuel, jets are only efficient at high altitude. Plus of course the extra takeoff and landing adding cycles to the airframe.
- Turing_Machine 4y agoSure, but if it's the difference between "can" and "can't"... It's a small enough issue that it's the routine route for cargo flights between China and the U.S. West Coast. Anchorage is the second-largest cargo airport in the United States (after FedEx's home base in Memphis).
- Scoundreller 4y agoPart of that is because cargo usually runs on old and inefficient planes, so they really benefit from “intermediate stop operations”. Carrying all that extra fuel for a direct long-haul adds 10-15% in fuel costs.