# Transatlantic ferry flights - why not go the other way around?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-ferry-flights-why-not-go-the-other-way-around/734414
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 12, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-ferry-flights-why-not-go-the-other-way-around/734414 "2015-10-12T11:49:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-ferry-flights-why-not-go-the-other-way-around/734414/1 "2015-10-12T11:49:06Z")
I’ve just read [this BBC article](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34484972) on transatlantic ferry flights. It leads by saying that this is a high-risk activity. Is it really? And if it is, why not go the long way around, across Russia and the Bering Strait? Sure it’s going to be more expensive in time and fuel, but your plane is orders of magnitude more valuable than the extra fuel and engine time used, right?
Or are all the airfields in range (plus those for the intermediary hops) on the Russian side super-secret military bases?
---
### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-ferry-flights-why-not-go-the-other-way-around/734414/2 "2015-10-12T12:41:57Z")
Longer distances, much worse weather, scarcer airports, less other air traffic to communicate with in a situation, little voice or rader coverage, and little/no availability of avgas that way. The North Atlantic route is well-established, and has been since WW2.
You might be interested in Ernest Gann’s autobiography _Fate is the Hunter_ (not related to the film), describing how he flew the route when it was just opening.