The shortest way on the surface of the globe is always an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circle" class="extiw" title="en:Great circle">orthodrome</a>, an arc segment of a great circle of the sphere. This is why a London–Los Angeles air route flies over Greenland.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Orion_8" title="User:Orion 8">Orion 8</a>
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, based on <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Globe_Atlantic.svg" title="File:Globe Atlantic.svg">File:Globe Atlantic.svg</a>.