Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,257 miles (or 13,289 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Wake Island Airfield and Madrid–Torrejón Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Wake Island Airfield and Madrid–Torrejón Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
• Wake Island Airfield is a military airport located on Wake Island, which is known for the Battle of Wake Island.
• On 31 August 2006, the super typhoon Ioke struck Wake Island.
• From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
• The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.

Facts about Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ):

• In January 1988, Spain and the United States announced jointly that agreement had been reached in principle on a new base agreement with an initial term of eight years, essentially meeting the conditions demanded by Spain.
• In addition to being known as "Madrid–Torrejón Airport", other names for TOJ include "Aeropuerto de Madrid/Barajas", "Torrejón Air Base" and "Base Aérea de Torrejón".
• The closest airport to Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) WSW of TOJ.
• Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Implementation of this agreement was delayed by the 1990–91 crisis in Kuwait, when the 401st TFW was one of the first American fighter wings to respond, with the 612th TFS deploying to its wartime base at Incirlik Turkey and the 614th TFS becoming the first US military unit to deploy to the Persian Gulf State of Qatar.
• The furthest airport from Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Madrid–Torrejón Airport (meaning Madrid–Torrejón Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,386 miles (19,933 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.