Eli5: Why do some flights go so far north before crossing the Pacific Ocean?

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There is a flight going from Dallas Texas to Tokyo but they appear to be going all the way to Alaska before crossing and coming back down.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

In addition to the listed comments about shortest distance, there are also ICAO regulations regarding how far away from a diversion airport aircraft are allowed to be, in the even they lose an engine. Although these regs have been steadily extended (upwards of three hours at present), that still leaves vast portions of open ocean that cannot be traversed.

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