Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Sørvágur, Faroe Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Vágar Airport (FAE), Sørvágur, Faroe Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,806 miles (or 10,954 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 Vágar 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 Vágar 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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.

Facts about Vágar Airport (FAE):

• A Boeing 737 aircraft lands
• Vágar Airport handled 23,618 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Vágar Airport (FAE) is Scatsta Airport (SCS), which is located 228 miles (368 kilometers) ESE of FAE.
• Because of Vágar Airport's relatively low elevation of 280 feet, planes can take off or land at Vágar 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 furthest airport from Vágar Airport (FAE) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,373 miles (18,304 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Vágar Airport (FAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• There are bus services about 10 times each direction per day between the airport and Tórshavn.
• Until 2002 travel from the airport to most locations in the Faroe Islands including the capital Tórshavn required a car ferry, but in 2002 a road tunnel was opened giving direct road access.
• In addition to being known as "Vágar Airport", another name for FAE is "Vága FloghavnVágar Lufthavn".
• As of 2013, a new terminal was expected to open in Spring 2014.
• An arrival from Billund
• The airport is currently managed by the Danish Transport Authority although the ownership of the airport was handed over to the Faroese government in May 2007.
• After the war the airfield was abandoned and left unused until 1963 when it was reopened as a civilian airport at the initiative of two Sørvágur residents, Hugo Fjørðoy and Lars Larsen.