Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Longreach, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Longreach Airport (LRE), Longreach, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,314 miles (or 5,333 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 Longreach 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 Longreach 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.
• After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• On 31 August 2006, the super typhoon Ioke struck Wake Island.

Facts about Longreach Airport (LRE):

• Because of Longreach Airport's relatively low elevation of 627 feet, planes can take off or land at Longreach 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.
• At one time in the 1960s, Longreach airport was one of the busiest inland airports in Australia.
• In late 1920, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service was founded.
• The furthest airport from Longreach Airport (LRE) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,625 miles (18,709 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• In 1920, the first single engine aircraft to complete the flight from England to Australia arrived.
• The closest airport to Longreach Airport (LRE) is Barcaldine Airport (BCI), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) E of LRE.
• Longreach Airport (LRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1941, the Department of Civil Aviation established the Longreach Aeradio station at the airport.