引子
If you think flying from A to B is a matter of plotting the most direct path between two places, think again. Security and political issues determine flight paths, and ticket prices far more than considerations about an airline’s carbon footprint.
如果你认为从A到B的飞行是绘制两个地方之间最直接的路径的问题，请再想一想。安全和政治问题决定了飞行路径，而且机票价格远远超过对航空公司碳足迹的考虑。
Pilots cannot just fly wherever they want. Apart from technical and practical matters like waypoints and the Earth’s natural jet streams, there are also man-made constraints such as political, legal and financial restrictions on airspace and flight paths.
飞行员不能因为他们想飞去哪里就飞到哪里。除了航点和地球自然急流等技术和实际问题之外，还存在人为限制，例如对空域和飞行路径的政治，法律和财政限制。
相关故事
Russia extends overflight approvals for US airlines, after airspace drama that hit planes bound for Hong Kong and Beijing 2018年4月 在飞往香港和北京的飞机遭遇空域戏剧之后，俄罗斯扩大了对美国航空公司的飞越批准
历史背景
In 1944, the US held a convention on International Civil Aviation in Chicago with clear objectives to coordinate and regulate international air travel. One of the main targets of the convention was to lift airspace restrictions for commercial flights, but the countries involved failed to reach a consensus and the initiative bombed. Consequently, countries continue to set their own arbitrary rules on how to charge airlines for the use of their airspace.
1944年，美国在芝加哥举行了一次国际民用航空大会，其明确目标是协调和规范国际航空旅行。本次大会的主要目标之一是取消商业航班的空域限制，但与会国家未能达成共识，该倡议彻底的失败。因此，各国继续就如何向航空公司收取使用其领空的费用制定自己的任意规则。
Before 1990, Soviet-aligned countries restricted access to their airspace, forcing airlines to use longer routes and alternative stops, like Anchorage in Alaska, to reach eastern Asia.
1990年以前，苏联国家限制进入其领空，迫使航空公司使用更长的航线和替代站点，如阿拉斯加的安克雷奇，到达东亚。
1990年以前
2000年以后
Progress was made in the 1990s when China and Russia opened up their airspace restrictions, allowing airlines to adopt more efficient routes. Cargo flights connecting the US east coast with eastern Asia, and Europe with Asia, were immediate beneficiaries. Today, airspace restrictions have become a political tool used as a bargaining chip to negotiate diplomatic issues.
在20世纪90年代取得进展，当中国和俄罗斯开放其空域限制，允许航空公司采用更有效的航线。连接美国东海岸与东亚，欧洲与亚洲的货运航班是直接受益者。今天，空域限制已经成为一种政治工具，被用作谈判外交问题的筹码。
Lengthy delays for Hong Kong, Beijing-bound American Airlines passengers as carrier avoids Russian airspace 为了避开俄罗斯领空，前往香港，北京的美国航线乘客班机长时间延误
为什么今天这很重要
Many countries use airspace fees as a form of revenue and, sometimes, as a form of leverage during political negotiations. This causes prices and routes to fluctuate, with airlines subject to different policies. Costs are, of course, transferred to travellers, while airspace restrictions can significantly limit the options available to certain destinations.
许多国家将空域费用作为一种收入形式，有时也是政治谈判中的一种杠杆形式。这导致价格和航线波动，航空公司受不同政策的影响。当然，成本转移给了旅客，而空域限制明显限制到达某些目的地的可用选择。
A320
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
Costs of flights in Europe, for example, are set according to a combination of distance, a plane’s weight, and airspace fees. An Airbus A320 flying from Barcelona to Copenhagen would have been subject to airspace fees from six countries totalling €1,572.
实际例子
例如，欧洲航班的成本是根据距离，飞机重量和空域费用的组合设定的。从巴塞罗那飞往哥本哈根的空中客车A320将受到来自六个国家的空域费用，共计1,572欧元。
从西班牙巴塞罗那飞往丹麦哥本哈根
BREAKDOWN 成本分解
In Europe, the airspace charge is calculated by multiplying three factors:
charge = distance x weight factor x unit rate
在欧洲，空域费用的计算方法是：距离*重量因子*单位费率
An Airbus A320 weighing 77 metric tons with a weight factor of 1.24 flying from Spain to Denmark would incur the following fees:
重量为77公吨，从西班牙飞往丹麦的重量系数为1.24的空中客车A320将产生以下费用：
Countries with large territories and strategic locations can use their airspace to earn revenue, strong-arm negotiations, and act as a punitive measure against unfriendly administrations. Russia, for instance, grants flight permission to some airlines and not others in exclusive agreements that vary from country to country and airline to airline. Cargo flights with permission to use Russian airspace are charged a fee between US$63 and US$115, depending on the weight of the aircraft, while commercial flights are subject to charges per passenger as defined between the Russian Federation and the airlines.
拥有大片领土和战略位置的国家可以利用其领空来赚取收入，进行强有力的谈判，并作为惩罚不友好政府的惩罚措施。例如，俄罗斯向一些航空公司提供飞行许可，而不是其他国家的航空许可，这些协议因国家/地区和航空公司而异。允许使用俄罗斯领空的货运航班收费在63美元至115美元之间，具体取决于飞机的重量，而商业航班则按俄罗斯联邦和航空公司之间的定义收取每位乘客的费用。
A different type of border 不同类型的边界
The globe below shows how the world’s land and political borders overlap with EEZ and US administrative airspace
下面的地球显示了世界的土地和政治边界如何与专属经济区和美国行政领空重叠。
The thorniest issue for airlines is when they are not permitted to use a certain airspace. Rerouting can add several hours to flights as they skirt around banned airspace. Recently, Qatar was banned from using most of the airspace around the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain. Historically, flights to Israel cannot fly over Arab countries and Taiwanese flights to Europe cannot travel over mainland China.
航空公司最棘手的问题是它们不被允许使用某个空域。重新规划路由增加几个小时的航班，因为它们围绕禁用的空域飞行。最近，卡塔尔被禁止使用阿联酋，沙特阿拉伯，埃及和巴林周围的大部分空域。从历史上看，飞往以色列的航班不能飞越阿拉伯国家，台湾飞往欧洲的航班不能飞越中国大陆。
Russia usually restricts concessions to fly over its territory to one airline per country. There are some exceptions, such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which are both registered in Britain. Other airlines, like Norwegian Air Shuttle – which is in dispute with Russia – hope to access new markets in Asia by registering aircraft outside their home country in an effort to gain permission to fly over Russia.
俄罗斯通常会给限制在其领土上飞越的每个国家的一家航空公司的特许权。但也有一些例外，例如英国航空公司和维珍航空公司，它们都在英国注册。其他航空公司，如与俄罗斯存在争议的挪威航空公司，希望通过在本国境外注册飞机以获得飞越俄罗斯的许可来进入亚洲的新市场。
挪威航空的亚洲航线图
Reaching destinations in northern Asia by avoiding Russian airspace raises the cost too much for the airlines,so they stick to routes in the southern region.
为了避开俄罗斯领空，到达北亚地区的目的地，对航空公司的成本过高，所以他们坚持在亚洲南部地区的航线。
Complex situations 复杂的情况
The US is able to charge air traffic fees to flights that neither take off, nor land, nor even cross over, American territory because it controls the airspace over a massive portion of the Pacific Ocean. The US charges overflight fees of US $26 per 100 nautical miles, which means a flight from Japan to New Zealand, flying nowhere near America, is required to pay a fee for US help.
美国向那些既没有起飞，也没有降落，甚至没有越过美国领土的航班收取空中交通费，因为它控制着太平洋大部分地区的空域。美国对每100海里26美元的飞越费收取费用，这意味着从日本飞往新西兰的飞机在美国附近飞行，需要支付美国帮助的费用。
According to their website, the FAA handled 15 million flights in 2016. If just half those flights journeyed through 100 nautical miles of US airspace, the fees would amass to US$195 million. To give an idea of the distances involved, one should consider the Hawaiian island, Ni'ihau, is 294 nautical miles from Hawai'i ...
根据他们的网站，美国联邦航空局在2016年处理了1500万次航班。如果只有一半的航班飞越100海里的美国领空，费用将达到1.95亿美元。为了了解所涉及的距离，人们应该考虑夏威夷岛尼豪岛距离夏威夷的294海里。
美国海上空域
Air traffic is an easy target when disputes arise between countries. Take the diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for example. All airlines from neighbouring countries suspended flights to and from Qatar – with Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates also banning overflights by aircraft registered in Qatar. This forced Qatar to divert flights to Africa and Europe via Iran, paying exorbitant overflight fees and adding up to 5 hours to journeys.
当各国之间出现争议时，空中交通是一个容易攻击的目。以沙特阿拉伯和卡塔尔之间的外交危机为例。来自邻国的所有航空公司都暂停往返卡塔尔的航班 - 巴林，埃及，沙特阿拉伯和阿拉伯联合酋长国也禁止在卡塔尔登记的飞机飞越。这迫使卡塔尔通过伊朗转移飞往非洲和欧洲的航班，支付过高的飞越费用并增加了5个小时的旅程。
flight radar 24 track data, May 2017
飞行雷达24轨道数据，2017年5月
2017年5月卡塔尔航空公司的航班飞行轨道图示
flight radar 24 track data, June 2017 飞行雷达24轨道数据，2017年6月
2017年6月卡塔尔航空公司的航班飞行轨道图示
Other examples include Taipei-based airlines like China Airlines and EVA Air, which are denied access to airspace over mainland China, according to flight aware tracking their routes to Europe are 2-5 hours longer than flights of KLM airlines on the same day and destination.
其他例子包括台北的航空公司，如中华航空和长荣航空，被拒绝进入中国大陆的空域，据
FlightAware (航班跟踪是一款生活实用类软件，提供实时跟踪地图、飞行状态、航空公司航班延误、私人/通用航空飞行及机场信息)追踪 ，他们前往欧洲的航线比同一天和目的地的KLM（荷兰皇家航空公司）航空公司的航班长2-5小时。
荷兰皇家航空公司及其他两家台湾航空飞欧洲航线图示
Meanwhile, China faces its own aviation complications. According to the International Air Transport Association forecast, China will replace the US as the biggest flight market by 2036 but it remains to be seen how its narrow flight paths will cope with the increased traffic.
与此同时，中国面临着自己的航空复杂问题。据国际航空运输协会预测，到2036年，中国将取代美国成为最大的航空市场，但它的狭窄飞行路径将如何应对增长的交通需求仍有待观察。
原文地址：https://multimedia.scmp.com/news/world/article/2165980/flight-paths/index.html
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