Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Portland, Maine, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Portland International Jetport (PWM), Portland, Maine, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,793 miles (or 10,932 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 Portland International Jetport, 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 Portland International Jetport. 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):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Portland International Jetport (PWM):

• At the onset of 2009 international service resumed.
• The furthest airport from Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• 1987 saw the arrival of Continental Airlines, when the airline bought PEOPLExpress and took over their routes.
• In 1981 Air New England ceased operations and pulled out of the Jetport after 11 years.
• Portland International Jetport (PWM) has 2 runways.
• Boston-Maine Airways had a monopoly on passenger air travel at Portland, which continued after the airline was renamed Northeast Airlines.
• Because of Portland International Jetport's relatively low elevation of 76 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland International Jetport 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.
• In 2004 Runway 11/29 was lengthened to 7,200 feet.
• The closest airport to Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Naval Air Station Brunswick (NHZ), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NE of PWM.
• Peoplexpress Airlines arrived in 1983, the first jet competitor to Northeast/Delta at PWM.