Nonstop flight route between Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Harare, Zimbabwe:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Harare International Airport (HRE), Harare, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,131 miles (or 5,038 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 RAF Ascension and Harare International 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 RAF Ascension and Harare International 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 RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The station comes under the overall jurisdiction of the Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands, an officer of one-star rank.
• Ascension serves as a diversion airport for ETOPS aircraft crossing the Atlantic.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• The RAF presence on Ascension is backed up by United States Air Force personnel, who contribute a similar number of service personnel to ensure the effective running of the station, under the command of Captain Eduard Rodriguez, who is responsible to the RAF Station Commander.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• Ascension Island Auxiliary Field was being built by 181 men from Saint Helena by 1957
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.

Facts about Harare International Airport (HRE):

• The Southern Rhodesia government had appointed a Southern Rhodesia Aerodrome Board as early as January 1947, whose task was to advise the government on the selection, acquisition, construction and maintenance of government aerodromes and landing grounds in Southern Rhodesia.
• Harare International Airport handled 612,208 passengers last year.
• The airport is today operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and is the hub of Air Zimbabwe.
• Harare International Airport (HRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Harare International Airport (HRE) is Mutare Airport (UTA), which is located 125 miles (201 kilometers) SE of HRE.
• The furthest airport from Harare International Airport (HRE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Harare International Airport (meaning Harare International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,017 miles (19,339 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Civil aviation regulatory authority, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe has its head office on level 3 of the new International Terminal.
• Commissioned in 1956 and officially opened on 5 February 1957, Salisbury Airport cost £924'000 to build.
• In 1951 the government announced that the airport would be developed as a joint user aerodrome for both civil aviation and the Southern Rhodesian Air Force.
• Because of Harare International Airport's high elevation of 4,887 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HRE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HRE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.