This is what global air traffic looks like right now. Three clear gaps are limiting the flow of aircraft worldwide. These gaps aren’t random. They’re shaped by conflict, security concerns, and geopolitical tensions. One is over Ukraine, where the skies have been closed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Another stretches across the Middle East, between Israel and Iran, where military threats and rising hostility have cleared a wide corridor of airspace. The third lies over the Tibetan Plateau which is avoided due to extremely high altitude and the associated air current and turbulence challenges. While most of the world’s skies are filled with planes, these zones remain stark reminders of how global events shape the paths we fly.