Nonstop flight route between Bakel, Senegal and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bakel Airport (BXE), Bakel, Senegal and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,582 miles (or 2,546 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 relatively short distance between Bakel Airport and RAF Ascension, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Bakel Airport (BXE):

• Bakel Airport (BXE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Bakel Airport's relatively low elevation of 98 feet, planes can take off or land at Bakel 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 closest airport to Bakel Airport (BXE) is Sélibaby Airport (SEY), which is located 29 miles (46 kilometers) NE of BXE.
• The furthest airport from Bakel Airport (BXE) is Maewo-Naone Airport (MWF), which is nearly antipodal to Bakel Airport (meaning Bakel Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maewo-Naone Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Maewo, Vanuatu.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• Ascension serves as a diversion airport for ETOPS aircraft crossing the Atlantic.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• The NASA Tracking Station at Devil's Ashpit and the Cable & Wireless Earth Station at Donkey Plain were built in the "mid-sixties" for space operations and communications, including the latter's use for transmitting "microwave borne data via the Early Bird Satellite back to the NASA facility at Andover, Maine.
• In 1939 Ascension became important as a HF/DF radio station covering trade routes.