Nonstop flight route between Cairns, Queensland, Australia and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from CNS to AWK:
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- About this route
- CNS Airport Information
- AWK Airport Information
- Facts about CNS
- Facts about AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to CNS
- List of Nearest Airports to CNS
- Map of Furthest Airports from CNS
- List of Furthest Airports from CNS
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, Queensland, Australia and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,873 miles (or 4,624 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 Cairns Airport and Wake Island Airfield, 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 Cairns Airport and Wake Island Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CNS / YBCS |
Airport Name: | Cairns Airport |
Location: | Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 16°53'12"S by 145°45'17"E |
Area Served: | Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
Operator/Owner: | North Queensland Airports Group |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from CNS |
More Information: | CNS Maps & Info |
Arrival 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 |
Facts about Cairns Airport (CNS):
- A$200 million redevelopment of the Domestic terminal started in August 2007 and was completed in 2010.
- Cairns Airport (CNS) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Cairns Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns 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.
- During the 1970s, Australia's two domestic airlines Trans Australia Airlines and Ansett provided regular scheduled services to most Australian capital cities and also Papua New Guinea, while in 1975 Air Niugini became the first international airline to commence flights out of Cairns, to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
- The furthest airport from Cairns Airport (CNS) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,832 miles (19,041 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
- The closest airport to Cairns Airport (CNS) is Mareeba Airfield (MRG), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) WSW of CNS.
- Cairns Airport handled 3,848,728 passengers last year.
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
- 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.
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- 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.
- Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.