Nonstop flight route between Ataq, Yemen and Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ataq Airport (AXK), Ataq, Yemen and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,918 miles (or 6,306 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 Ataq Airport and Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Ataq Airport and Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Ataq Airport (AXK):

• Ataq Airport (AXK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ataq Airport (AXK) is Pukarua Airport (PUK), which is nearly antipodal to Ataq Airport (meaning Ataq Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pukarua Airport), and is located 12,074 miles (19,431 kilometers) away in Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Ataq Airport (AXK) is Beihan Airport (BHN), which is located 76 miles (122 kilometers) WNW of AXK.

Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• The United States Air Force operated a base in 1952 on the site of the original airport using former Royal Air Force facilities 1631st Air Base Squadron), and in 1953 on the Monkton side of the airport, both used by the USAF MATS.
• After British Airways had ceased regular passenger operations in 1983, BA continued to intermittently use Prestwick as a site for pilot training, especially for training Concorde pilots.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Since 2007 the airport has occasionally been used by BBC motoring TV show Top Gear as the location for various stunts and experiments.
• Today, part of the Prestwick site is occupied by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm with RNAS Prestwick, where a detachment of 3 Sea Kings provide a search and rescue role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and 200 NM past the Irish coast.
• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• 1992 marked the beginning of a renaissance for the struggling airport when purchased by "Canadian entrepreneur" Matthew Hudson in a "dramatic rescue".
• 2009 saw the unit break a new record as they were tasked to 447 call outs.