How does air traffic flow across the world?

Many passengers’ air logistics worries go no further than the few flights that they’re on that day. Occasionally, this broadens when a canceled flight or disruptions occur and you have to look at other flights going on in the day.

But what about all of the flights that depart on one airline in one day? Or what about all flights from all airlines in one day? Where and how do these flights operate? For the answer, check out this video that models every single flight over an entire day.

If you think about it, many international flights head out in the evening, so near night time you’ll see a swath of yellow dots head right over the Atlantic. Conversely, during the day the yellow dots will head west. Watch the video a few times over and you’ll see some interesting trends.