I can't calculate a proper route through China

[FWAviation 484]

I already searched for it, but (if I'm not mistaken) it seems to me that no one else reported a similar problem here: When planning flights from Europe to Hong Kong, I can't seem to find a proper route. With no FIRs excluded, I get the following route for British Airways flight 27 from London Heathrow to Hong Kong International. As you can see, the route suggested by PFPX leads along the east coast of China, thus being more than 500 nautical miles longer than the great circle distance and way off the typical route BAW 27 takes (through western Mongolia and right through central China):

 

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Even when I exclude the ZBPE and ZSHA (Beijing and Shanghai) FIRs in the advanced route editor, I get a route that is way south of the great circle and BAW 27's typical real life route and which is also way longer than it actually should be (with a detour to the south at the PEXUN intersection):

 

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Please don't get distracted by the wrong take-off time (1945Z instead of 2045Z) I inserted. I get the same bad results with the correct take-off time and also on other days and for other routes from Europe to Hong Kong (EDDF-VHHH and LFPG-VHHH). When I calculate other routes from Europe to Asia (for example, to South Korea or Japan), I don't get such quirky routes. I use NavDataPro data from Aerosoft for the AIRAC cycle 1701.

 

It would be great if any of you had an explanation for this and how I can overcome this problem.

[srcooke 422]

By using Flightradar and identifying the likely STAR in use, in this case SIERA, I used the plan VIA option ( right click on SIERA intersection ) to achieve:

 

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The only requirement was to modify the UK exit route via SOMVA for the plan to validate.

 

PFPX is going to rely on Airways and DIRECT links to automatically construct the route. Upper airways over west China are rather thin and no direct files have been created for the area. You can add your own directs to the user database with the editor.

 

 

[VHOJT 57]

Also, don't forget the Himalayas.  Aircraft do not overfly the higher points of these mountains, and there are limited routes.  In fact, Qantas a few years back created its own L888 route (now available to all airlines capable of using it i think) to shave 20-40 minutes flying time off the route.  They had to carry extra oxygen bottles to allow for descent to a higher altitude if depressurised, as well as making complex escape routes from the terrain.  

 

Cheers,

Rudy

[VHOJT 57]

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/rough-opening-to-silk-route-67922/

 

L888 Western China Route 'The Silk Road'

 

https://flightsimroutes.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/london-to-hong-kong-on-lima-triple-eight/

 

Just in case you are interested...

[srcooke 422]

7 hours ago, VHOJT said:

Just in case you are interested..

 

Thanks for the info and links Rudy.

[FWAviation 484]

Thank you, @srcooke, for the good advice! PFPX sure has a steep learning curve and I still have to learn a lot. I just tried your suggestion and now I get a different route than yours and BAW27's real life route, but at least it's closer to the great circle and might take the current wind conditions into consideration (right?).

 

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By the way, do you have a different version of PFPX or how do you get that different depiction of the route with the list of all waypoints on the left hand side? Sorry, probably just another one of those stupid rookie questions...

 

And @VHOJT, thank you for your advice as well. Since the most direct routing from Great Britain or other parts of Northern/Central Europe to Hong Kong leads airplanes far away from the Himalayas, I think that they did not play a role in this particular (mis-)calculation I did in PFPX. But it's interesting anyway, I didn't know before that airlines have to take such precautions before flying over the Himalayas!

[srcooke 422]

The BAW27 route may not always be the same and will be based upon route availability, winds etc.

 

The PFPX route editor can be called up when planning using the edit icon or from the route data quick-link should you just be constructing routes. It is with this tool you can construct/modify routes either via selection on the map or from existing waypoints listed in the legs column.

 

Wind optimization doesn't appear to work as it should and I believe the function should be restored in the next update.

[FWAviation 484]

Great, thank you, Stephen!