Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Cotonou, Benin:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO), Cotonou, Benin would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,366 miles (or 16,683 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 Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• On 31 August 2006, the super typhoon Ioke struck Wake Island.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
• 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.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO):

• Plans were revived in 2011 and President Yayi Boni presided at a ceremonial start to the construction of the new airport, using South African funding.
• The closest airport to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) ENE of COO.
• The furthest airport from Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (meaning Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,172 miles (19,589 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
• Because of Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Cotonou Cadjehoun 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.
• Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1974, it was decided to move the operations of the Cotonou international airport to a new facility in Glo-Djigbé.