Nonstop flight route between Lae Atoll, Marshall Islands and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lae Airport (LML), Lae Atoll, Marshall Islands and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,357 miles (or 19,887 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 Lae Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Lae Airport and RAF Ascension. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between LML and ASI makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Lae Airport and RAF Ascension would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between LML and ASI are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Lae Atoll, Marshall Islands and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between LML and ASI!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Lae Airport (LML):

• The closest airport to Lae Airport (LML) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) W of LML.
• The furthest airport from Lae Airport (LML) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Lae Airport (meaning Lae Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,357 miles (19,887 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The NASA Tracking Station at Devil's Ashpit and the Cable & Wireless Earth Station at Donkey Plain were built in the "mid-sixties" for space operations and communications, including the latter's use for transmitting "microwave borne data via the Early Bird Satellite back to the NASA facility at Andover, Maine.
• RAF Ascension Island was re-garrisoned by the RAF in 1982 and used extensively as a staging base during the Falklands War.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• In 1939 Ascension became important as a HF/DF radio station covering trade routes.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.