Nonstop flight route between Buraidah, Saudi Arabia and Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ), Buraidah, Saudi Arabia and Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,735 miles (or 9,229 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport and Shearwater Heliport, 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport and Shearwater Heliport. 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ):

• The furthest airport from Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (meaning Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,199 miles (19,632 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 130 miles (209 kilometers) S of ELQ.

Facts about Shearwater Heliport (YAW):

• The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• These changes allowed for heliport operations including instrument approaches and were accompanied with the construction of other non-airfield facilities in support of the Maritime Helicopter Project.
• Following a base rationalization program in the mid-1990s, the Canadian Forces closed CFB Shearwater as a separate formation and realigned the property's various facilities into CFB Halifax.
• The Shearwater Heliport is the location of the headquarters of 12 Wing, whose sole purpose is to support and operate shipborne helicopters for the Royal Canadian Navy.
• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport 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.
• Defence cutbacks and unit and facility realignments from 1994 to 1996 saw CFB Shearwater stand down as a separate formation and the facility merged as an airfield attached to CFB Halifax.