Nonstop flight route between Freetown, Sierra Leone and Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hastings Airport (HGS), Freetown, Sierra Leone and CFB Goose Bay (YYR), Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,063 miles (or 6,539 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 Hastings Airport and CFB Goose Bay, 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 Hastings Airport and CFB Goose Bay. 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 Hastings Airport (HGS):

• The closest airport to Hastings Airport (HGS) is Lungi International Airport (FNA), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NNW of HGS.
• Hastings Airport (HGS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Hastings Airport (HGS) is Ulawa Airport (RNA), which is nearly antipodal to Hastings Airport (meaning Hastings Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ulawa Airport), and is located 12,088 miles (19,454 kilometers) away in Arona, Ulawa Island, Solomon Islands.
• Because of Hastings Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Hastings 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.

Facts about CFB Goose Bay (YYR):

• While the flat and relatively weather-favored area around North West River had for years been under consideration for an airport for the anticipated North Atlantic air routes, it was not until Eric Fry of the Dominion Geodetic Survey investigated the area on 1 July 1941 that the Goose Bay location was selected.
• In addition to being known as "CFB Goose Bay", another name for YYR is "Goose Bay Airport".
• Because of CFB Goose Bay's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at CFB Goose Bay 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.
• To provide rescue and range support to the jet aircraft operating from Goose Bay the Canadian Forces provided a Base Rescue Flight consisting of three CH-135 Twin Huey helicopters.
• The base was initially a Royal Canadian Air Force station and later a United States Air Force base known as Goose AFB, housing units of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Defense Command.
• The closest airport to CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Rigolet Airport (YRG), which is located 100 miles (161 kilometers) NE of YYR.
• The furthest airport from CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,164 miles (17,967 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• CFB Goose Bay (YYR) has 2 runways.
• In 1988, the Pinetree Line radar site at CFB Goose Bay was closed.
• The increased low-level flights by fighter aircraft was not without serious controversy as the Innu Nation protested these operations vociferously, claiming that the noise of aircraft travelling at supersonic speeds in close proximity to the ground was adversely affecting wildlife, namely caribou, and was a nuisance to their way of life on their traditional lands.