Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AWK to YYR:
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- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- YYR Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about YYR
- 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 YYR
- List of Nearest Airports to YYR
- Map of Furthest Airports from YYR
- List of Furthest Airports from YYR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and CFB Goose Bay (YYR), Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,692 miles (or 10,769 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 CFB Goose Bay, 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 CFB Goose Bay. 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: | YYR / CYYR |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada |
GPS Coordinates: | 53°19'9"N by 60°25'32"W |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Canada |
Airport Type: | Military/Public |
Elevation: | 160 feet (49 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from YYR |
More Information: | YYR Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
Facts about CFB Goose Bay (YYR):
- In addition to being known as "CFB Goose Bay", another name for YYR is "Goose Bay Airport".
- The furthest airport from CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,164 miles (17,967 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
- In response to lessons learned from the Vietnam War and the growing sophistication of Soviet anti-aircraft radar and surface-to-air missile technology being deployed in Europe, NATO allies began looking at new doctrines in the 1970s–1980s which mandated low-level flight to evade detection.
- The closest airport to CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Rigolet Airport (YRG), which is located 100 miles (161 kilometers) NE of YYR.
- CFB Goose Bay (YYR) has 2 runways.
- Because of CFB Goose Bay's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at CFB Goose Bay 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 the RAF announced its intent to close the permanent RAF detachment, effective 31 March 2005.
- In 1988, the Pinetree Line radar site at CFB Goose Bay was closed.