When you talk about the U.S. and its airspa… wait let me zoom out first. Ok, when you talk about the U.S. and its airspace you’re not only talking about the airspace directly above territorial U.S. but also above much of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The U.S. can charge airspace fees to any plane flying over this part of the world. If a plane were to fly from Beijing to Vancouver or even from Auckland to Tokyo, they’d have to comply with U.S. airspace restrictions and pay the U.S. for using its airspace.

As we rely more and more on the skies for everything from transport to shipping, the weaponization of airspace as a means of pushing political agendas becomes a much more common occurrence. When airspace restrictions depend so much on the ebb and flow of world politics, airspace politics becomes, just as, if not more, confusing and complicated as world politics. I hope you liked this introduction to our world’s flight paths. I thought I’d end here because any more in-depth and this video would be more about international relations than cool, cool planes! If you liked the video...