Why did no airline do this before?

[tva164]

United to Launch U.S.-India (Direct) Flights
Read the article here - http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/010814/united_india.html

Its a 7500 mile trip and takes 14/15 hours on the 744.

Would the route fly up North from VIDP over the pole and then due south towards KORD or would there be some other route, e.g., overNorthern Europe then the usual NATS way?

Any knowledgable sources?

[FlightPlanMan]

TVA164

The shortest route is over the pole, probably just to the North Atlantic side of it. There would be no need to use the NATs.


FPM.

[Notso Fantastic]

Looking at my globe and measuring with a piece of string, it looks like the route will be over Greenland, north of Norway, past Moscow and down over Afganistan- nothing unusual. It looks approximately similar or slightly less than BA's LHR-Singapore route, the effective max range for a 400 without restricting payload much and allowing for a headwind on the return sector.

[BOEINGBOY1]

not sure as i don't have the charts in front of me but, would that route not fly directly through the compass unreliable zone? is this not a factor with acars etc ? just asking!