Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Solwezi, Zambia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AWK to SLI:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- SLI Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about SLI
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to SLI
- List of Nearest Airports to SLI
- Map of Furthest Airports from SLI
- List of Furthest Airports from SLI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Solwezi Airport (SLI), Solwezi, Zambia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,755 miles (or 15,700 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 Solwezi 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 Solwezi Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWK / PWAK |
Airport Name: | Wake Island Airfield |
Location: | Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°16'56"N by 166°38'12"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AWK |
More Information: | AWK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SLI / FLSW |
Airport Name: | Solwezi Airport |
Location: | Solwezi, Zambia |
GPS Coordinates: | 12°10'27"S by 26°22'0"E |
Airport Type: | Military/Public |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SLI |
More Information: | SLI Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Solwezi Airport (SLI):
- The closest airport to Solwezi Airport (SLI) is Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM), which is located 88 miles (142 kilometers) ENE of SLI.
- The furthest airport from Solwezi Airport (SLI) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,907 miles (19,162 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- Solwezi Airport (SLI) currently has only 1 runway.