Aviation, routes, and operations
Notes from the dispatch room at Alexa Business Aviation — practical articles about flight planning, great circle navigation, ETOPS, charter, and what running private jets actually looks like day-to-day.
How to read a great circle map (and why it looks wrong at first)
Why a flight from New York to Tokyo arcs over Alaska on the map even though it's a "straight line" in real life. A plain-English introduction to great circles, rhumb lines, Mercator distortion, and what aviation actually uses.
ETOPS explained: what it means for business jets crossing oceans
ETOPS, ETP, EROPS, LROPS — alphabet soup for a single underlying question: how far is too far from a runway if an engine quits? A walkthrough of how the rules apply to Gulfstream G650s, Bombardier Globals, and Embraer Praetors crossing the Atlantic.
The 10 longest non-stop business jet routes flown today
From Sydney to London nonstop in a Global 7500, to Hong Kong-Teterboro in a G700 — a ranking of the most ambitious city pairs that ultra-long-range business jets actually fly, with great circle distances and typical block times.
São Paulo to Geneva: anatomy of a typical Brazilian business jet trip
Why the Brazil–Switzerland corridor is one of the most flown private routes from Latin America, what aircraft handle it nonstop versus with a fuel stop, and how the great circle path runs over the Cape Verde Islands rather than the obvious "diagonal across the Atlantic".
Range rings, diversion analysis, and how to use them well
A range ring is just a circle on a map, but used right it answers a dozen operational questions in seconds: ETOPS coverage, ferry capability, alternate availability, charter market reach. How experienced dispatchers actually use them.
Overflight and landing permits: the invisible work behind a charter trip
You see "São Paulo to Riyadh" on the itinerary. Behind it, someone spent two weeks getting written permission from six countries to fly through their airspace. A walk through what overflight and landing permits are, when you need them, and what happens when they fall through at the last minute.
About this blog
Articles here are written by the team at Alexa Business Aviation Management — people who plan, dispatch, and broker real flights for a living. We try to explain the operational and technical side of business aviation in a way that's useful to pilots, dispatchers, schedulers, owners, and the curious public.
If there's a topic you'd like to see covered, tell us. The blog is shaped by what readers actually want to read.