Most flights are intended to spend as little time as possible over water, since storms are more common over the ocean than on land. An aircraft would not be safe to fly over the Pacific Ocean due to the stormy weather and frequent lightning strikes that occur there.
It's been established that the Pacific Ocean is big ... really big. And with greater distances come greater costs since the plane needs more fuel. Executive Flyers writes that while you could just charge passengers more to fly that distance, this may lead to lots of unhappy customers and airlines losing out on sales.
Notable routes directly over the Pacific itself include Singapore Airlines' routes between Singapore and Los Angeles/San Francisco (Singapore – San Francisco is also served by United Airlines), Qantas' Sydney to Dallas route, and American Airlines' service between Dallas and Auckland.
The air is extremely thin in the stratosphere. Oxygen levels will be also low. This will cause air turbulence and uneasiness to the passengers. In addition to this, the force of the wind will be strong and the presence of mountains makes the manoeuvring of the aircraft even more difficult."
Early aircraft engines did not have the reliability nor the power to lift the required fuel to make a transatlantic flight. There were difficulties navigating over the featureless expanse of water for thousands of miles, and the weather, especially in the North Atlantic, is unpredictable.
Jet Streams
Jet streams, which are a system of air currents that circle the Earth many miles above the planet's surface, are another reason why aircraft don't fly over the Pacific Ocean. Due to Earth's rotation, these air currents often move from West to East.
When flying over land, of course it is more likely that there will be more airfields closer to the aircraft at any given time. However, because of lessons learned from its history and the improvements in aircraft and engine reliability, crossing the oceans is deemed as safe as flying over land.
The Tower of Silence, Mumbai. Sriharikota Space Station in Nellore district state of Andhra Pradesh. A 10-km radius no-fly zone over Kalpakkam nuclear installation, Tamil Nadu. All flight activity to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) over the Kalpakkam area is prohibited.
The top of Mount Everest is one-third of the sea level's atmospheric pressure. This level of air pressure is not convenient for helicopters to handle. The oxygen levels at the Everest base camp itself are at a 50% drop.
airplanes generally fly from the U.S. across the Pacific to Australia because it usually saves time and fuel, and is considered safe, especially with modern aircraft.
Although there are exceptions, most commercial airlines don't fly directly over the Pacific Ocean for routes connecting the United States to Asia. Instead, they choose “curved” routes that hug bodies of land.
There are very few cases of airplanes flying over Antarctica. The rough weather conditions and low visibility make it extremely difficult to fly and land a plane over the continent.
Johnston Atoll Airport is located on the Johnston Atoll in the United States Minor Outlying Islands, in the Pacific Ocean 717 nautical miles (1328 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. It was an active U.S. military facility during the 20th century, but the airport was shut down in 2005 and the runway is not maintained.
Undefeated record: The world record for the world's longest continuous flight was set in 1959 by Robert Timm (pictured) and his co-pilot John Cook. Months in the air: The men flew in this four-seater aircraft for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes.
The easy answer is that both engines will not fail. If one engine fails, the aircraft can continue to fly on the other engine. Statistically speaking, the probability of a twin-engine failure is low enough to forget - your journey to and from the airport is far more dangerous in reality.
Plain and simply, this area of Gavà has environmental laws that don't allow flight paths to pass through the air space. The sound generated by the airplanes disturbs wildlife and means they have to take a detour via the sea - the planes therefore avoid this area of Gavà.
Historically, flying close to or over the South Pole was ruled out by Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards rules. ETOPS governs how far away twin-engine jets can fly from an airport they can land at. Over land with many airports, this is no problem.
The US prohibits flights across all North Korean airspace, including the oceanic part of the ZKKP/Pyongyang FIR over the Sea of Japan. Several other countries have airspace warnings in place which advise caution due to the risk posed by unannounced rocket launches.
The Pacific is also our planet's deepest water body, with an average depth of approximately 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). The deepest place on Earth, known as Challenger Deep, extends to a depth of more than 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) and is found in the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific.
23 November 1996: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (a Boeing 767-260ER), ditched in the Indian Ocean near Comoros after being hijacked and running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board.
The longest over water route in the world is the stretch between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Even between Hawaii and Tokyo there are alternate airports available, such as Midway Island (hence the name “Midway”). Going across the North Atlantic, alternates include Iceland and Greenland.
Though less common than transatlantic flights, transpacific flights have been commercially available since the mid-1930s and have been used for transport of cargo and passengers across the Pacific Ocean.
Although, it may “feel” like we face more turbulence when flying over water bodies, it is not really so. Unless, of course, we are passing through a patch of cyclonic weather. In general, chances of turbulence are highest when we pass over mountains or cities with high-rises.