Its a great circle route, not a full circle. A great circle route is the shortest distance between two points on a globe, the line of the journey must bisect the centre of the earth.
Only for reasons of convenience. But the Great Circle is the standard of the shortest distance between two points. That's why flights from the western U.S. to Europe go close to the Arctic. (Been there, done that.) All the short hops are, by definition, segments of Great Circles.
No shit there isn't a full circle route. You'd end up where you began. Which makes earth a round object.
Its a great circle route, not a full circle. A great circle route is the shortest distance between two points on a globe, the line of the journey must bisect the centre of the earth.
And then there are Rhumb lines....
Only for reasons of convenience. But the Great Circle is the standard of the shortest distance between two points. That's why flights from the western U.S. to Europe go close to the Arctic. (Been there, done that.) All the short hops are, by definition, segments of Great Circles.