Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, South Africa and Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from GCJ to PIK:
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- About this route
- GCJ Airport Information
- PIK Airport Information
- Facts about GCJ
- Facts about PIK
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCJ
- List of Nearest Airports to GCJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCJ
- List of Furthest Airports from GCJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to PIK
- List of Nearest Airports to PIK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PIK
- List of Furthest Airports from PIK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,953 miles (or 9,580 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 Grand Central Airport and Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Grand Central Airport and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCJ / FAGC |
Airport Name: | Grand Central Airport |
Location: | Johannesburg, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 25°59'11"S by 28°8'24"E |
Area Served: | Johannesburg |
Operator/Owner: | Private |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5327 feet (1,624 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GCJ |
More Information: | GCJ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PIK / EGPK |
Airport Name: | Glasgow-Prestwick Airport |
Location: | Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 55°30'33"N by 4°35'39"W |
Area Served: | Glasgow, Prestwick, Strathclyde, Scotland |
Operator/Owner: | Scottish Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 65 feet (20 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from PIK |
More Information: | PIK Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Central Airport (GCJ):
- Grand Central is a fully equipped airfield and is open 24 hours a day.
- The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
- Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):
- Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
- Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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 furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
- There had been proposed plans drawn up pre-war for the post war years which would have been classed as extremely ambitious, especially in the austere post-war years.
- Scottish Aviation built a factory using the original terminal building and hangars at Prestwick, which from 1974 produced such aircraft as the Prestwick Pioneers, and later the Jetstream and Bulldog.
- 1992 marked the beginning of a renaissance for the struggling airport when purchased by "Canadian entrepreneur" Matthew Hudson in a "dramatic rescue".
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport is considered to be the only piece of United Kingdom territory on which Elvis Presley ever set foot, when the United States Army transport plane carrying him home stopped to refuel in 1960, en route from Germany.
- The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
- Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
- On 1 April 2014, The Robert Burns World Federation told Scottish MPs at Holyrood to rename the airport to Robert Burns International Airport a petition was created to rename it as well and was discussed by the public petition committee.