In a video shot aboard Air Force One as it was on its way from the G20 Summit in Turkey to the APEC Summit in the Philippines, the camera flashed to an flight tracking map showing the jet’s location and previous route. Clearly you can see the VC-25A’s route deliberately avoided Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The route also shows Air Force One making an interesting course change as it passed over the highly volatile Pakistan-Indian border. It continued on to skirt China’s southern border with Laos and then passed down Vietnam’s coastline before hopping across the South China Sea to the Philippines. The crossing appears to have put Air Force One between China’s military outpost on the Paracel islands and their man-made island building projects in the Spratly Islands.
Air Force One is not alone when it comes to avoiding flying passengers over war zones, some airlines will not fly over certain areas of embattled countries. But still, the route is intriguing and obviously some pointed intelligence went into planning it.
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