Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Madrid, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), Madrid, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,260 miles (or 13,294 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1], 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]. 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 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.
• Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.
• On 31 August 2006, the super typhoon Ioke struck Wake Island.
• 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.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD):

• In addition to being known as "Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]", another name for MAD is "Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas".
• The Nuevos Ministerios metro station allowed checking-in right by the AZCA business area in central Madrid, but this convenience has been suspended indefinitely after the building of Terminal 4.
• Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are adjacent terminals that are home to SkyTeam and Star Alliance airlines, as well as Air Europa.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) has 4 runways.
• Originally, the flight field was a large circle bordered in white with the name of Madrid in its interior, unpaved, consisting of land covered with natural grass.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] handled 39,729,027 passengers last year.
• In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations, 4,400 m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas.
• The closest airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ENE of MAD.
• The furthest airport from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (meaning Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.