Aviation View - March 2024

Source nbaa.org , News Editor, First Published March/April 2024 issue With frequently changing airspace restrictions amid regional conflicts, successful business aviation trips require ample time, knowledge and planning. Back in 300 BCE, when the Greek mathematician Euclid was developing Euclidian geometry’s theorem – “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line“ – he certainly had no way of knowing how wrong his rule would be for those of us planning an international flight in the 21st century. But today, with rapidly changing airspace restrictions, any flight of any length has a good chance of being anything but a straight line. And as the world of international business travel returns to its pre- pandemic levels, the challenges of getting from here to there are only increasing. “The desire for international travel has certainly expanded for us,” explained Chad Patnode, flight operations manager for Pfizer.“Really, as of about a year ago, when China fully re-opened after COVID, we’ve been back to a fully global operation.” While the desired pre- and post-pandemic departure and arrival destinations have remained basically the INTERNATIONAL AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS IN AN INCREASINGLYCOMPLEX WORLD same, the steps required to plan and complete these trips are vastly different. “Flight planning has changed a lot from four years ago,” Patnode continued. “Airspace restrictions have meant we’re having to relearn how to safely get from point A to point B with all the uncertainty that’s out there.” “For example, you can’t appreciate how big Russia is until you have to avoid its airspace. That’s really impacted us,” Patnode said. “We have flights now that are hours longer than they used to be, so we sometimes have to plan now for added fuel and crew swap stops.” Nathan Shelley, assistant manager of flight planning operations for Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., echoed Patnode’s comments and added,“We’ve become very quick to respond to changes and have had to use a lot of outside-the-box thinking since the closure of Russian airspace and turmoil in the Middle East. “The Great Circle Route has always been our routing of choice, but now we have to avoid it all,” Shelley continued. “Even operators flying the North Pacific Region have to stay away from the Kamchatka Peninsula. It may not look like much on a map, but it can be a big deal in January when you encounter the headwinds in that region. It’s doable, but you have to be very adaptable.” OPENING L INES 9 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 04, ISSUE 01