@Krieghund:
Captain Jack’s right. Air unit movement is never blocked by enemy units or enemy-controlled territories, so air units may move freely between sea zones connected by canals no matter who controls them.
So let me get this straight.
Situation: To avoid the German Air Force, the US player has 2 undefended (because he thinks that nothing can touch them), loaded Transports in SZ#19 by the West Indies preparing to liberate French West Africa next turn. The Japanese player controls Hawaii and has a Long Range Bomber on it.
According to you, the Long Range Bomber can use his 8 moves like this take off into SZ#53, move into SZ#54, move into SZ#55, move into SZ#20, skip Panama and move into SZ#19 and destroy the 2 Transports, move into SZ#11, move into SZ#12, and finally for his 8th movement point, land on Morocco. Is this a legal move?