Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Helsinki / Vantaa, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Helsinki Airport (HEL), Helsinki / Vantaa, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,884 miles (or 11,079 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 Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport and Helsinki 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 Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport and Helsinki 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 Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG):

• Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) has 2 runways.
• Because of Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport's relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim 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 airport is located 20 km north of downtown Rio de Janeiro.
• On August 31, 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL819 million investiment plan to up-grade Galeão International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Rio de Janeiro will host.
• In addition to being known as "Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport", another name for GIG is "Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim".
• Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport handled 17,115,368 passengers last year.
• At the end of the war, Santos Dumont Airport was unable to handle the increased tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers.
• The furthest airport from Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (meaning Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• The closest airport to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) is Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SE of GIG.
• On January 20, 1977, when the airport was receiving all of Brazil's major international flights, this new terminal was opened and all scheduled passenger flights were transferred to the new building.

Facts about Helsinki Airport (HEL):

• The construction of the Ring Rail Line rail link to the airport was started in May 2009, with an opening for traffic projected for mid-2015.
• Helsinki Airport handled 15,279,043 passengers last year.
• Because of Helsinki Airport's relatively low elevation of 179 feet, planes can take off or land at Helsinki 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 addition to being known as "Helsinki Airport", another name for HEL is "Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasemaHelsingfors-Vanda flygplats".
• The airport is operated by Finavia, the state-owned enterprise that operates Finland's airports.
• The furthest airport from Helsinki Airport (HEL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,992 miles (17,689 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is the international and domestic hub for Finnair, the Finnish flag carrier.
• The closest airport to Helsinki Airport (HEL) is Helsinki-Malmi Airport (HEM), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SSE of HEL.
• Helsinki Airport (HEL) has 3 runways.
• Finnair's head office is located in Tietotie 11 on the grounds of Helsinki Airport.