Nonstop flight route between Biak, Indonesia and Gander, Newfoundland, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia and Gander International Airport (YQX), Gander, Newfoundland, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,077 miles (or 14,609 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Gander International 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Gander International 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):

• In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese, of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944.
• Mokmer Airfield is located to the west of Mokmer village on Biak, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight and is the only one of the three currently used as an airport, now called Frans Kaisiepo International Airport.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport is an airport in Biak, Papua, Indonesia.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
• Taxis and civil transport cars can be used as public transport alongside private vehicles.
• Borokoe Airfield is due west of Mokmer, along the beach.
• Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
• The government of Netherlands soon took over the airfield.
• At first phase, the airport was revamped to accommodate piston airliners such as the Douglas DC-3.
• The closest airport to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.

Facts about Gander International Airport (YQX):

• Gander is near the great circle route between cities of the U.S.
• Because of Gander International Airport's relatively low elevation of 496 feet, planes can take off or land at Gander International 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.
• In late-1985, Gander was the site of the Arrow Air Flight 1285 disaster, in which a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 with 256 people on board crashed during takeoff due to atmospheric icing.
• During the Cold War Gander was notable for the number of persons from the former Warsaw Pact nations who defected there.
• Following Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, the government renamed the airport Gander Airport and it came under the administration of Canada's federal Department of Transport.
• In March 2010, Sun Country Airlines announced that it would use Gander as a refueling stop for its new summer 2010 service between Minneapolis and London Stansted Airport and for its summer 2011 service between Minneapolis and London Gatwick Airport.
• The furthest airport from Gander International Airport (YQX) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,395 miles (18,338 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Gander International Airport (YQX) is St. John's International Airport (YYT), which is located 124 miles (199 kilometers) SE of YQX.
• Construction of the airport began in 1936 and it was opened in 1938, with its first landing on January 11 of that year, by Captain Douglas Fraser flying a Fox Moth of Imperial Airways.
• Gander International Airport (YQX) has 2 runways.