Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and La Gomera Airport (GMZ), Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,158 miles (or 14,738 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 La Gomera 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 La Gomera 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):

• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of 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.

Facts about La Gomera Airport (GMZ):

• Aviation in the island of La Gomera started in the 1950s, when a private airfield was constructed.
• Because of La Gomera Airport's relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at La Gomera 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 La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to La Gomera Airport (meaning La Gomera Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,116 miles (19,499 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• La Gomera Airport is an airport located near the town of Playa Santiago on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, 34 km southwest by road from the island's capital city, San Sebastián de la Gomera.
• The closest airport to La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Tenerife-South Airport (TFS), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) E of GMZ.
• At the end of 1997, all is ready to begin with the works and, at the end of 1994 the arifield had a runway, an aircraft parking and a taxi way to the runway.
• Although 34 km from the island capital, the airport was located here to avoid disturbing the Garajonay National Park and avoid the cloudier and foggier climate to the North of the island, whilst the volcanic terrain gives few suitable sites anywhere on La Gomera, although even this site required extensive embankments at both ends of the runway.
• In addition to being known as "La Gomera Airport", another name for GMZ is "La Gomera Airport ODB".
• La Gomera Airport (GMZ) currently has only 1 runway.