Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Varadero, Matanzas Province, Cuba:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AWK to VRA:
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- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- VRA Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about VRA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to VRA
- List of Nearest Airports to VRA
- Map of Furthest Airports from VRA
- List of Furthest Airports from VRA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA), Varadero, Matanzas Province, Cuba would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,996 miles (or 11,259 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWK / PWAK |
Airport Name: | Wake Island Airfield |
Location: | Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°16'56"N by 166°38'12"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AWK |
More Information: | AWK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VRA / MUVR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Varadero, Matanzas Province, Cuba |
GPS Coordinates: | 23°2'3"N by 81°26'7"W |
Operator/Owner: | ECASA S.A. |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 210 feet (64 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VRA |
More Information: | VRA Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
- 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.
- The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.
- 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.
Facts about Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA):
- The furthest airport from Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,679 miles (18,795 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- In addition to being known as "Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport", another name for VRA is "Aeropuerto Juan Gualberto Gómez".
- Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport was built in 1989 and inaugurated by Fidel Castro, thus replacing the old Varadero airport located in Santa Marta, currently known as Kawama Airport.
- Because of Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport's relatively low elevation of 210 feet, planes can take off or land at Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport 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.
- The closest airport to Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) is Kawama Airport (VRO), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) NE of VRA.
- Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) currently has only 1 runway.
- There has been 5 significant incidents involving aircraft from or en route to the airport since the 1950s.