Does sound like there will be much fuel left to circle the airports, will be landing really light. Then there are head winds on the return ...
Hmmm, the route is almost directly over the North Pole, so there is very little difference in the distance between the two cities no matter which "direction" you are going. They may just "keep going" in the same direction on the "return" flight to avoid the headwinds.
Maybe someone with a little more aeronautic knowledge than I have can chime in as to the feasibility.
Yeah, the shortest distance arc is about due north. At either end of the flight there aren’t a lot of choices for a divert field if headwinds or an issue with fuel burn rates (engine performance) have them low on fuel. Most divert choices are pretty close to the regular destination- not really saving much flying time.