There are airports, and depending on what aircraft type is stationed there, they have a certain action range. If you click the airport, there will be a circle that shows the action range.
Now, from what I read here on the forum, if you are outside of the action range of any airports around you, and you still see airplanes, they should indeed come from a carrier out there somewhere. I can't confirm this yet though, since I haven't been playing SH5 very much. What I have noticed on the other hand is that sometimes, the planes pass you, then in a pretty short while pass you again in the other direction. Then it takes a good while before the planes pass you again, but when they do they again pass a second time shortly thereafter. This should/could mean that you're pretty much at the end of their range from the carrier, "near the edge of the action radius". So the carrier should be somewhere along the course of the planes when they pass the second time.
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