Nonstop flight route between Cape Town, South Africa and Shannon (County Clare), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cape Town International Airport (CPT), Cape Town, South Africa and Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,214 miles (or 10,000 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 Cape Town International Airport and Shannon 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 Cape Town International Airport and Shannon 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 Cape Town International Airport (CPT):

• The airport has direct flights from South Africa's other two main urban areas, Johannesburg and Durban, as well as flights to smaller centres in South Africa.
• The terminal contains 10 air bridges, evenly split between domestic and international usage.
• The furthest airport from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,616 miles (18,693 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Cape Town International Airport handled 8,505,563 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 217 miles (349 kilometers) E of CPT.
• Because of Cape Town International Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Town 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.
• Cape Town International Airport (CPT) has 2 runways.
• Cape Town International Airport is approximately 20 kilometres from the city centre and is accessible from the N2 freeway, with Airport Approach Road providing a direct link between the N2 and the airport.
• Cape Town International Airport recorded 7.8 million passengers in 2008–2009, down from 8.4 million passengers the year before.

Facts about Shannon Airport (SNN):

• The first Air Services Agreement with the United States in 1945 only permitted flights to Shannon, and only permitted Irish airlines to serve Boston, Chicago, and New York.
• The first passengers through the newly autonomous airport arrived on the Aer Lingus EI-110 flight from JFK at 5:08 am on 1 January 2013.
• During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• The longest runway in Ireland, at 3,199 metres, is located at Shannon.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• In 2011, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7.4% from 1,755,885, to 1,625,549.