There's a gap between the range figure on an airline brochure and the reality of dispatching a jet across an ocean. A new browser-based tool called the Flight Range Atlas, built by the team at Travel Codex, sits in that gap — and it's a fun rabbit hole for anyone who's ever looked at a new aircraft delivery and wondered where it might actually fly.

The idea is simple. You type in a departure airport, pick an aircraft type, and the tool draws a ring showing that plane's realistic reach. Airports inside the boundary light up. What makes it more honest than a marketing map is the buffer: published range numbers assume a light payload and perfect conditions, while real flights carry full loads, hold reserve fuel, and fight headwinds. The Atlas trims the spec-sheet figure so you're planning the way a route planner would, not the way a press release would.

There's a second mode for pressure-testing a specific city pair. Add a destination and the tool lists every aircraft capable of making the run, split into practical options and theoretical ones. Slide the range buffer around and you can watch the map contract — a useful visual lesson in why a jet with a 15-hour sticker range rarely operates a 15-hour flight.

The creator is upfront about the limits. Distances are calculated as great circles rather than along real airways, the airport database and aircraft ranges are representative planning figures rather than certified performance data, and actual routes depend on payload, airport constraints, fleet availability, and — the big one — whether anyone actually wants to fly that route. It's a brainstorming tool, not a schedule.

Why should a holidaymaker care? Because it answers questions airlines don't always answer directly. Can a direct flight between your home airport and that island paradise ever exist with current aircraft? Which destinations open up if a carrier adds an A321XLR or a 787 to its fleet? If you're the kind of traveller who plans around nonstop options or tracks new route announcements, this gives you a way to sanity-check what's plausible before an airline does it for you. It's also just a satisfying way to kill twenty minutes if you like aviation.

The tool is free to use and runs entirely in the browser — no signup, no aviation-industry knowledge required.