Nonstop flight route between Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Santiago de Compostela, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena and Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), Santiago de Compostela, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,535 miles (or 5,688 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 Santiago de Compostela 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 Santiago de Compostela 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 NASA Tracking Station at Devil's Ashpit and the Cable & Wireless Earth Station at Donkey Plain were built in the "mid-sixties" for space operations and communications, including the latter's use for transmitting "microwave borne data via the Early Bird Satellite back to the NASA facility at Andover, Maine.
• The Target Tracking Radar Station was a Nike Zeus test facility for tracking reentry vehicles from Cape Canaveral missile launches.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ):

• In 1948, work began on asphalting the main runway.
• The New terminal at Santiago de Compostela Airport officially opened on 13 October 2011 and passenger operations transferred there the following day.
• Santiago de Compostela Airport handled 2,194,611 passengers last year.
• The airport was set up by a group of aviation enthusiasts in October 1932 and two months directors were chosen to select where the airport was going to be built.
• Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Santiago de Compostela Airport", another name for SCQ is "Aeroporto de Santiago de Compostela".
• The furthest airport from Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is Hokitika Airport (HKK), which is nearly antipodal to Santiago de Compostela Airport (meaning Santiago de Compostela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hokitika Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Hokitika, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) N of SCQ.
• Additionally, criticism has faced the high cost of constructing a new terminal building, 230 million euros, while the old terminal currently sits shuttered and unused.