Are there any flights that fly east both from origin to destination and from destination to origin?

Eastbound and Down: Flights That Chase the Rising Sun (Twice!)

Ever looked at a flight map and wondered why planes don’t just fly straight lines? Me too! Turns out, there’s a whole lot more to it than just A-to-B. We’re talking about crazy winds, the Earth spinning, and even politics playing a role. This got me thinking: Are there any flights out there that actually travel east both ways? Buckle up, because the answer is a fascinating “kinda,” with a few twists.

Riding the Jet Stream: Mother Nature’s Highway

The real reason planes take those seemingly weird routes? Jet streams. Think of them as super-fast rivers of air high up in the atmosphere. They mostly zoom from west to east, and airlines are all about hitching a ride. Catching a jet stream can seriously cut down on flight time and save a ton of fuel. Imagine having a constant tailwind pushing you along! But fighting one? Forget about it. As NASA’s Robert Frost pointed out, it’s not the Earth’s spin directly affecting things, but how it messes with weather, especially those jet streams.

Globetrotting Eastward: A Circle Around the World

So, if flying east is generally faster, does that mean some flights go east, then… keep going east on the way back? Believe it or not, it happens!

Take Air India flight 173, for example. It blasts off from New Delhi to San Francisco, heading east over Asia and the Pacific. Then, on the return, it still goes east, but this time over the Atlantic and Europe! It’s practically a “round the world in one flight” situation, mostly heading in one direction. Pretty cool, huh?

What Makes a Flight Go East (and Stay East)?

It’s not just a free-for-all, though. A few things have to line up for a flight to favor the eastward route:

• Distance Matters: The farther apart the two cities are (especially if they’re almost on opposite sides of the planet), the more sense it makes to just keep heading east. The time difference between going east or west shrinks, so you might as well grab that jet stream boost!
• Latitude is Key: Jet streams aren’t everywhere. They’re strongest in the mid-latitudes, like where you find a lot of major cities in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Politics, Sadly, Plays a Part: Sometimes, airspace restrictions force flights to take longer, more roundabout routes. I’ve heard stories of Air India flights from Delhi to New York having to swing way out east to avoid certain airspace, adding time and burning extra fuel. Talk about frustrating!

Eastward Examples: Chasing the Sunrise

That Delhi-San Francisco flight is a prime example, but there are others:

• East Coast to East Asia: Flights from New York to Singapore often hug that eastward path both ways. Those jet streams are just too tempting to ignore!
• UK to the Canary Islands: Even shorter hops can see this effect. Flights between the UK and the Canary Islands tend to follow a similar route along the coasts of Ireland, France, Portugal, and Morocco in both directions.

The Jet Lag Catch:

There’s a downside to all this eastward travel: jet lag. Messing with your body clock can leave you feeling totally out of whack. Trust me, I’ve been there!

The Bottom Line

While most flights seem to just go back and forth, some clever routes take advantage of jet streams and other factors to keep heading east, both coming and going. It’s a reminder that even something as simple as flying is a wild mix of physics, weather, and a little bit of global politics. Who knew, right?