Nonstop flight route between Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Lyon, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), Lyon, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,901 miles (or 6,278 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 Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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 Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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):

• RAF Ascension Island was re-garrisoned by the RAF in 1982 and used extensively as a staging base during the Falklands War.
• Wideawake Airfield was a US installation built in 1943 by arrangement with the British government.
• 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.
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.

Facts about Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS):

• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) has 2 runways.
• In 2013, the airport served 8,562,298 passengers, an increase of 1.3% over the previous year.
• The closest airport to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) W of LYS.
• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, formerly known as Lyon Satolas Airport, is the international airport of Lyon, the third-biggest city in France and an important transport facility for the entire Rhône-Alpes region.
• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport handled 8,451,039 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport", another name for LYS is "Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry".
• Coach links connect the airport with the centre of Lyon and other towns in the area including Chambéry and Grenoble.
• Because of Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport's relatively low elevation of 821 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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 Rhônexpress tramway began operations in August 2010 and links the TGV rail station of Lyon Part-Dieu with the Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry in less than 30 minutes, albeit at a price many travellers find extortionate.
• Since 1997, the airport has been a focus city for the airline Air France.
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (meaning Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,284 miles (19,770 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.