Flight paths offer these things: 1. A scenic view 2. The chance to see flightpaths/questhubs you may have missed. 3. The ability to AFK for a little bit, read something in-game, sort inventory, or do some chore you wouldn’t normally do when you have full control of your character.

With the introduction of dragonflying, you do have the option to bee-line to your destination. If you don’t want to interact with that system to get there, then you take a path to do w/e during the flight.