Nonstop flight route between Saint Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad between 1924 and 1991) and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pulkovo Airport (LED), Saint Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad between 1924 and 1991) and United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NBW), Guantanamo Bay, Cuba would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,548 miles (or 8,929 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 Pulkovo Airport and United States Naval Station Guantanamo 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 Pulkovo Airport and United States Naval Station Guantanamo 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 Pulkovo Airport (LED):

• The closest airport to Pulkovo Airport (LED) is Rzhevka Airport (RVH), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) NE of LED.
• Pulkovo Airport (LED) has 2 runways.
• During the Second World War the airport was the frontline in the Nazi Siege of Leningrad.
• Pulkovo Airport handled 12,854,366 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Pulkovo Airport", another name for LED is "Аэропо́рт Пу́лково".
• For a more comprehensive list, see Aviation Safety Network Entry for LED.
• The furthest airport from Pulkovo Airport (LED) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,868 miles (17,491 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport has two main runways.
• Because of Pulkovo Airport's relatively low elevation of 79 feet, planes can take off or land at Pulkovo 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 United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NBW):

• Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for alleged unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places.
• The closest airport to United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NBW) is Mariana Grajales Airport (GAO), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) N of NBW.
• Beginning in 2002, a small portion of the base was used to detain several hundred alleged combatants at Camp Delta, Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray.
• In January 2009, President Obama signed executive orders directing the CIA to shut what remains of its network of "secret" prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year.
• The furthest airport from United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NBW) is RAAF Learmonth (LEA), which is located 11,820 miles (19,022 kilometers) away in Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1903, Cuba signed a treaty that leased Guantanamo Bay to the United States for use as a Naval Station, with the understanding that this would reduce the military footprint of the U.S.
• During the war the base was set up to use a non-descript number for postal operations.
• In 2005, the Navy completed a $12 million wind project erecting four wind turbines capable of supplying about a quarter of the base's peak power needs, reducing diesel fuel usage and pollution from the existing diesel generators, while saving $1.2 million in annual energy costs.