Of course you are are right, chuckfickens. I misread the question and didn't realise the plane was travelling all the way round the world at the equator and returning to the same point.
The point I was trying (and failing) to make is that when travelling between two points A and B the distance on the curve along the ground can I think be more than the straight line distance between two points in mid air (although I accept not directly above as in at 90 degrees relative to the ground). I know what I mean but I clearly wasn't thinking along the same lines as the other posters.