Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Ambato, Ecuador:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AWK to ATF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- ATF Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about ATF
- 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 ATF
- List of Nearest Airports to ATF
- Map of Furthest Airports from ATF
- List of Furthest Airports from ATF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Chachoan Airport (ATF), Ambato, Ecuador would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,859 miles (or 12,648 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 Chachoan 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 Chachoan 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: | ATF / SEAM |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Ambato, Ecuador |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°12'42"S by 78°34'27"W |
Area Served: | Ambato, Ecuador |
Operator/Owner: | Public / Military |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 8502 feet (2,591 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from ATF |
More Information: | ATF Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- On 26 December 1940, implementing the Hepburn Board's recommendations, a pioneer party of 80 men and 2,000 short tons of equipment sailed for Wake Island from Oahu.
- After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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 closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- 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.
Facts about Chachoan Airport (ATF):
- In addition to being known as "Chachoan Airport", another name for ATF is "Aeropuerto Chachoan".
- The furthest airport from Chachoan Airport (ATF) is Pinang Kampai Airport (DUM), which is nearly antipodal to Chachoan Airport (meaning Chachoan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pinang Kampai Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,971 kilometers) away in Dumai, Sumatra, Indonesia.
- The closest airport to Chachoan Airport (ATF) is Cotopaxi International Airport (LTX), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) N of ATF.
- Because of Chachoan Airport's high elevation of 8,502 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ATF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ATF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.