Why Flights Through China Take Such Weird Routes

Summary by Krater

This video explains why flight routes in China and certain other countries are complex and circuitous, detailing how restricted airspace, military reservation of airspace, and political conflicts impact aviation paths and punctuality.

From the video

Answers: Why do flight routes in China look so weird?

• flight routes
• airspace restriction
• aviation geography
• commercial flight punctuality
• geopolitics of airspace

What it concludes

• Commercial planes do not fly in straight lines because they follow invisible roads in the sky called airways defined by waypoints.
• China's flight routes look convoluted because only about 20 to 30 percent of its airspace is set aside for civilian aviation while 70 to 80 percent is reserved for the military.
• Restrictions on commercial flight routes in China lead to longer flights and significantly higher rates of flight delays and cancellations.