Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Owerri, Nigeria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW), Owerri, Nigeria would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,229 miles (or 16,463 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW):

• In addition to being known as "Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport", another name for QOW is "Imo Airport".
• The furthest airport from Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) is Canton Island Airport (CIS), which is nearly antipodal to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (meaning Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Canton Island Airport), and is located 12,238 miles (19,696 kilometers) away in Canton Island, Kiribati.
• Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport handled 276,926 passengers last year.
• Because of Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport's relatively low elevation of 373 feet, planes can take off or land at Sam Mbakwe International Cargo 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.
• Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) is Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa (PHC), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) SSW of QOW.