Flymap Learn

Navigation & Routes

Discover how pilots navigate, why routes are chosen, and what flight levels and waypoints mean.

How Pilots Navigate Across the World

Even on a long flight across oceans or continents, pilots always know where the aircraft is supposed to be.

1 min read

When aircraft cruise high in the sky, their altitude is often described as a flight level instead of a simple height.

1 min read

A waypoint is a fixed reference point used in air navigation.

1 min read

The shortest line between departure and destination is only one possible route.

2 min read

GPS helps aircraft know their position with high accuracy.

1 min read

Sometimes an aircraft nears its destination but does not land right away.

1 min read

Air traffic control helps organize aircraft from departure to arrival.

1 min read

Some long-haul flights travel very far north and may even pass near the polar regions.

1 min read

An airplane moves through air, not through the ground.

1 min read

A flight plan is much more than a line between two airports.

1 min read

They are based on the runway's direction.

1 min read

In airline flying, departures and arrivals often follow published procedures instead of making everything up in real time.

1 min read

Hours from land, there may be no roads, towns, or radar antenna beneath an airliner — yet its position is not a mystery.

3 min read

Cloud, fog, rain, or darkness can hide a runway until very late in an approach. That does not leave pilots feeling their way through the sky.

3 min read