World Air Traffic Pattern over a 24 Hour Period
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On the animation, each dot represents one airplane. The three main markets are North America, Europe and Pacific Asia, each operating mostly during their respective daylight hours, implying that the global air transport system is constantly active. Transatlantic flights are also significant with the flights leaving Europe westbound mostly in the morning and the afternoon so that they can arrive in North America only a few hours later in local time due to time zone differences. Eastbound flight to Europe mostly leave North America in the evening so that they can arrive in Europe in the early morning.
It was only after World War II that air transportation became the dominant mode of long-haul passenger travel in developed countries.
Jet transportation facilitated the extension of the linkages between people and places, which is supported by ample evidence. In the years since the beginning of the Jet Age, commercial aircraft have advanced markedly in capacity and range. Since their introduction in the late 1950s, commercial jets have not improved in terms of speed.
It is through increasingly long-haul nonstop services among an ever wider set of city-pairs rather than through increased aircraft speeds that air transportation continues to "shrink the world". After World War II aircraft were just beginning to be capable of crossing the Atlantic without stopping at intermediate places such as Newfoundland.
Click on World Air Traffic Pattern over a 24 Hour Period to open the resource.