# Same Route, Same Time - Different Flight Path

**URL:** <https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/same-route-same-time-different-flight-path/56937>\
**Category:** Airlines\
**Created:** [November 8, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/same-route-same-time-different-flight-path/56937 "2019-11-08T11:39:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![VivPike](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discussions.flightaware.com/vivpike/32/136564_2.png) [@VivPike](https://discussions.flightaware.com/u/VivPike)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/same-route-same-time-different-flight-path/56937/1 "2019-11-08T11:39:52Z")

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I am curious.  
Two different airlines, flying the same route, at similar times, with similar aircraft, but have two very different flight paths. Why is this?

This is not a one-off. I have been monitoring this for a while, and it is very consistent.  
Two different airlines (South African SAA & Latam Brasil) fly SAA 222/SA 223 and TAM 8059/ TAM 8058 between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg (return) on a daily basis.  
They operate similar aircraft (A330/A359) and depart/arrive at similar times.

However, their flight paths appear to be very different. One would expect the aircraft to “almost be in the wake” of each other - this is not the case. They take very different trajectories in and out of the two airports.  
I am wondering why this would be. SAA always follows it’s path, while LATAM always follows it’s. Yet they are nowhere near to close to each other.  
Why?

![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/flightaware/original/3X/e/2/e2baab0b68523f78d71c94b584f73532cdba7ee7.jpeg)