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Key Factors
There is a pilot superstition that claims that flying over a rainbow is meant to be an indication of excellent luck—a brand new report just lately recognized the routes that’ll provide the highest possibilities of seeing one.
Each time I get to step on a aircraft, I all the time take into consideration how fortunate I’m to dwell in a time the place I can see the opposite facet of the world in a number of hours. However should you’re hoping to double your luck and see considered one of nature’s most charming shows whereas flying, the flight monitoring community Wingbits has a number of suggestions to make.
In late August, the corporate launched a brand new report it compiled with the assistance of atmospheric physicist Elizabeth Austin, which recognized the “luckiest” flights that any business air passenger can take—and all of it got here to be due to a popular pilot belief.
“Based on a well-liked and enduring pilot’s superstition, flying over a rainbow brings excessive good luck for the journey,” the workforce defined in its findings, which have been shared with Journey + Leisure. Impressed by this perception, the workforce partnered with Austin to mix its flight monitoring information along with her meteorological evaluation to seek out the flights almost certainly to immediately fly by essentially the most rainbow-dense places on Earth.
“The fantastic thing about distributed flight tracking is that it captures patterns invisible to any single observer,” stated Robin Wingardh, CEO and cofounder of Wingbits. “With Dr. Austin’s meteorological information, we have been in a position to attract from the vary of information supplied by our world neighborhood to seek out the world’s ‘luckiest’ flight paths. We hope this brings a smile to travellers and maybe evokes them to decide on a window seat on their subsequent journey.”
After all the info, it named one particular North American route ranging from the U.S. because the luckiest of all: Virginia’s Dulles Worldwide Airport (IAD) to Toronto Pearson Worldwide Airport (YYZ) in Canada. The flight passes over Niagara Falls, providing a excessive probability of rainbows.
“Located between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, this highly effective waterfall complicated—made up of Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls—produces fixed mist. Daylight recurrently creates full rainbows, significantly over Horseshoe Falls from late morning to early afternoon,” the report stated.
However it’s not the one fortunate flight you will discover in the USA. The workforce discovered 4 extra flights hovering over America’s skies, particularly routes that fly over the Owens Valley in California. Right here, the distinctive ecosystem created by the desert basin, Sierra Nevada, and White Mountains creates the next chance of rainbows. “Summer time thunderstorms adopted by clear skies typically end in large, wide-open sky rainbows that stretch throughout your entire valley ground,” the report said.
These particular routes embody:
- Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport (PHX) to San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO)
- Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport (DFW) to Fresno Yosemite Worldwide Airport (FAT)
- San Jose Mineta Worldwide Airport (SJC) to Harry Reid Worldwide Airport (LAS)
- SFO to LAS
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to SFO
There are, nevertheless, extra flights across the globe for these seeking to see a unique facet of the rainbow. Another notable flights embody:
- London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Croatia’s Dubrovnik Airport (DBV)
- Foz do Iguaçu Worldwide Airport (IGU) to São Paulo Worldwide Airport (GRU) in Brazil
- Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Techo Worldwide Airport (PNH) to China’s Chongqing Jiangbei Worldwide Airport (CKG)
All of those routes fly over beautiful our bodies of water that generate the proper quantity of moisture for rainbows.
“These particular flight paths actually span the globe, from sweltering South American rainforests to the icy fjords of Norway,” Austin stated within the report. “Understanding that passengers on these fortunate routes have the next probability of flying immediately over a rainbow provides one thing distinctive to their journey, and I hope they really feel that connection to considered one of nature’s most uplifting phenomena.”

















































