[QUOTE=ewmayer;345397]Breaking: Iceland rejected his bid, but both [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/world/snowden.html?ref=world"]Venezuela and Nicaragua[/URL] have offersed asylum to Snowden. Question is, even if he accepts an offer, how do they get him out of Russia with the travel routes effectively turned into a no-fly zone by U.S. allies? Stay tuned...[/QUOTE]
Load a bit more kerosene and fly toward Murmansk, over Arctic and N.Atlantic oceans straight to Venezuela?

...or they assemble a Freedom Flotilla which carries Snowden and a large number of journalists half-way across the world in one big anti-US party with rolling coverage.

[QUOTE=Batalov;345400]Load a bit more kerosene and fly toward Murmansk, over Arctic and N.Atlantic oceans straight to Venezuela?[/QUOTE]

Ain't Great Circle paths amazing? I had my first notable experience with a long-distance course early this year. Even though I know the principle, I was still awed that the route from Chicago to Hong Kong skirts the west edge of Hudson Bay and the North Slope of Alaska.

here a rought

I always enjoy flying over the southern tip of Greenland and NE Canada on flights between Europe and the U.S. Talk about rugged scenery...

[QUOTE=firejuggler;345430]here a rought[/QUOTE]

And how does the length of that compare to the "polar solvant" GC route Batalov suggested?

Practical issue: Flying off a standard airline-serviced route would require chartering a special plane. I suppose it would be an excellent PR opportunity for the head of whichever country takes in Mr. Snowden, so I guess it's not so much of a problem as an opportunity. :)

[i]Edit: And I see Bolivia, whose president's plane was illegally grounded and searched last week based on unfounded "global terrorist #1 is on board" rumors, has joined the party ... [/i]

[OT]
 

[QUOTE=Batalov;345400]Load a bit more kerosene[/QUOTE]... or use someone's plane that's equipped for aerial refueling (such as Air Force 1 ... but ...)[quote]and fly toward Murmansk, over Arctic and N.Atlantic oceans straight to Venezuela?[/quote]

Going by the north pole would mean flying over USA.
Something *we* want to avoid. Unless ou plan to cirle north america, this is no good.

If he ends up accepting Evo Morales' offer, we get a delicious opportunity to use a famous [url=http://nyc.barstoolsports.com/m/random-thoughts/how-many-more-times-do-you-think-the-mike-tyson-bolivian-joke-will-fly-right-over-stoolies-heads/]Mike Tyson quote[/url]. :)

[p.s. Whatever you may think of Mr. T, he was always very quotable, in the above instance in unwitting-innocuous-hilarious fashion.]

[p.p.s. My personal favorite non-garbled Iron Mike quote is from a pre-fight interview he gave before his bout with [insert name of doomed overmatched opponent not named Douglas, Holyfield or Lewis here] ... after the interviewer mentioned the "special secret strategy" his opponent had been touting as the way he was gonna win, Mike replied simply, "Everybody's got a strategy 'til they get hit in the mouth."]

[p.p.p.s. There is a fabulous life/war/business metaphor in that last quote - but if I ever hear the likes of Tony "snake oil for the soul" Robbins use it, I'm gonna puke.]

[OT, geography]
 

[QUOTE=firejuggler;345470]Going by the north pole would mean flying over USA.
[/QUOTE]As I interpret Batalov's suggestion, it's to fly over/from Murmansk (does Murmansk airport have an international transit zone like Moscow's?) out over the Arctic Ocean just enough to reach international airspace/waters, then turn west. The route would remain in international airspace as it passed north of Scandinavia, through the gap between Iceland and Faroe Islands, then south over the Atlantic all the way to Venezuela, leaving international airspace only when it can directly enter Venezuelan airspace.

If Snowden is reasonably healthy, perhaps skydiving lessons would be helpful?

Or not, just brainstorming here.

Alternately, they could throw one of the weirdest CosPlay get-togethers ever at that airport, with different people getting on different planes.

[QUOTE=cheesehead;345479]As I interpret Batalov's suggestion, it's to fly over/from Murmansk (does Murmansk airport have an international transit zone like Moscow's?) out over the Arctic Ocean just enough to reach international airspace/waters, then turn west. The route would remain in international airspace as it passed north of Scandinavia, through the gap between Iceland and Faroe Islands, then south over the Atlantic all the way to Venezuela, leaving international airspace only when it can directly enter Venezuelan airspace.[/QUOTE]
Yes. Using an approximate virtual turn point (72N, 32E), I get only 11% longer flight plan:
<11,000km vs 9,906 km (best straightforward arc), according to, e.g. [URL="http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html"]this calculator[/URL]

For comparison: LAX-SYD is a 12,000km (15hr) flight, and there's nothing special about that distance.