Since the jet streams flow from west to east, they make one leg of the journey much faster (when flying with the stream) and one slower (against the stream). Imagine going downstream or upstream a river, or how it feels when you are cycling against the wind, as opposed to when you have it at your back.
Do you gain time flying east?
When you travel west, the Sun gets lower and lower in the sky. It is as though you are seeing the Sun as it would be at an earlier time in the day. We can make this more precise by saying that as you travel East you will gain time, and as you travel west you will lose time.
Why do flights from the Middle East take off in the middle of the night?
Why do flights from the Middle East take off in the middle of the night? To reach the destination in the early morning hours to make the connecting flights. After a reasonable turn-around time they can make the return flight during the rest of the day so the plane can bu used for night flights.
Why do planes fly east at night?
Is it harder to fly east or west?
Flying east or west makes a difference to jet lagYour circadian rhythm (body clock) is less confused if you travel westward. This is because travelling west 'prolongs' the body clock's experience of its normal day-night cycle (the normal tendency of the body clock in most of us is slightly longer than 24 hours).
Why do flights going east take longer?
The jet stream is the real reason your flight time varies depending on the direction of your destination. Jet streams are air currents that happen at very high altitudes, including those which planes frequently fly in.
Why do planes sound so loud at night?
Why do aircraft overhead sound louder at night than they do during the day? Nighttime noise events are perceived to be louder because the ambient or background community noise is generally lower at night and there is increased sensitivity to noise during normal sleeping hours.
Why do you always fly east?
Clear-air turbulence. Jet streams are, at their most basic, high-altitude air currents caused by atmospheric heating and the inertia of the earth's rotation—and they're the reason why flights from west to east are faster than the same route traversed in the opposite direction.