Nonstop flight route between Gao, Mali and Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gao International Airport (GAQ), Gao, Mali and CFB Cold Lake (YOD), Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,085 miles (or 9,792 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 Gao International Airport and CFB Cold Lake, 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 Gao International Airport and CFB Cold Lake. 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 Gao International Airport (GAQ):

• The furthest airport from Gao International Airport (GAQ) is Labasa Airport (LBS), which is nearly antipodal to Gao International Airport (meaning Gao International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Labasa Airport), and is located 12,390 miles (19,940 kilometers) away in Labasa, Fiji.
• Gao International Airport (GAQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gao International Airport's relatively low elevation of 870 feet, planes can take off or land at Gao 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 Gao International Airport (GAQ) is Tambao Airport (TMQ), which is located 101 miles (162 kilometers) S of GAQ.

Facts about CFB Cold Lake (YOD):

• Operations in the 1950s and early 1960s centered around training crews destined for the CF100 Canuck all weather interceptor which was in operational use in both Canada and Europe.
• Personnel arrived at Cold Lake on March 31, 1954, with operations at RCAF Station Cold Lake beginning that day.
• In addition to being known as "CFB Cold Lake", another name for YOD is "Cold Lake/Group Captain R.W. McNair Airport".
• In 2007 it was the setting for Jetstream, a TV series depicting eight pilots training under the 410 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron to fly a CF-18.
• During the 1980s, CFB Cold Lake was thrust into the international media spotlight when CLAWR was used as the target for testing of the newly developed AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles by the USAF.
• CFB Cold Lake (YOD) has 3 runways.
• Cold Lake Cadet Summer Training Centre is located at 4 Wing Cold Lake, held annually from June to August.
• CLAWR is the northern equivalent to the United States Air Force's Nellis Air Force Range and provides a different training environment with heavy boreal forest and numerous lakes more closely resembling European terrain.
• Non-military use of the CLAWR increased since the 1990s, and "will continue to grow as various sectors vie for access to airspace, land and resources in and around the range.Canadian Natural Resources Limited’s Primrose and Wolf Lake in situ oil sands project near Cold Lake, Alberta.
• The furthest airport from CFB Cold Lake (YOD) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,097 miles (16,250 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to CFB Cold Lake (YOD) is Bonnyville Airport (YBY), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) WSW of YOD.