Airlines on air tracks around the Earth

Open the following page:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html

Use the search box on the right (magnifying glass icon) to find Los Angeles (CA):

Insert the search result into the map (“Add to new sketch”):

Repeat the search for London:

Add the result to the sketch:

Use the zoom function and the distance measurement tool to determine the distance between London and Los Angeles:

The shortest connecting line is not a straight line. Rather, the shortest connection is a route that crosses the southern tip of Greenland.

This becomes intuitively clear when we look at the route on a 3D globe:

Open the following page:

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webscene/viewer.html

First close the “Scene Viewer”.

Again, search for London:

Again, use the zoom function and the distance tool to connect the cities of London and Los Angeles.

If we now zoom out of the map, it becomes quite obvious that the shortest route must lead over the southern tip of Greenland:

What if we were to book a flight from Mumbai (India) to Los Angeles? Would we take off for the shortest connection westbound or eastbound (departing from Mumbai)?