Nonstop flight route between Christmas Island, Kiribati and Shannon (County Clare), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cassidy International Airport (CXI), Christmas Island, Kiribati and Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,238 miles (or 13,258 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 Cassidy 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 Cassidy 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 Cassidy International Airport (CXI):

• On 29 August 2008, Air Pacific announced they would suspend flights operating the airport from 2 September 2008.
• During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command used the airport as a refuelling stop on its Pacific transport route from Hawaii to Kanton Island for flights to Australia and New Zealand as well as a staging point for attacks on the Gilbert Islands, then occupied by Japan.
• The furthest airport from Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Ikela Airport (IKL), which is nearly antipodal to Cassidy International Airport (meaning Cassidy International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ikela Airport), and is located 12,367 miles (19,903 kilometers) away in Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Cassidy International Airport (CXI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Cassidy International Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Cassidy 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.
• The closest airport to Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Manihiki Island Airport (MHX), which is located 891 miles (1,433 kilometers) SSW of CXI.

Facts about Shannon Airport (SNN):

• During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• Aer Lingus announced on 15 June 2010 that it would be suspending services from Shannon to Boston and New York for 11 weeks from January 2011.
• It has been hinted that a route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol or Frankfurt Airport could commence in 2015.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• 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.
• Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport through 2008.
• 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.
• 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.