Nonstop flight route between Lyon, France and Canton Island, Kiribati:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), Lyon, France and Canton Island Airport (CIS), Canton Island, Kiribati would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,462 miles (or 15,228 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 Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport and Canton Island 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 Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport and Canton Island 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 Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS):

• The closest airport to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) W of LYS.
• The airport consists of three terminals and two runways aligned north–south.
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (meaning Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,284 miles (19,770 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport", another name for LYS is "Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry".
• In 1994 the LGV Rhône-Alpes high-speed rail line brought TGV service to the airport, providing direct trains to Paris and Marseille.
• Because of Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport's relatively low elevation of 821 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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.
• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport handled 8,451,039 passengers last year.
• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) has 2 runways.

Facts about Canton Island Airport (CIS):

• The furthest airport from Canton Island Airport (CIS) is Malabo International Airport (SSG), which is nearly antipodal to Canton Island Airport (meaning Canton Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Malabo International Airport), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
• Canton Island Airport (CIS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Canton Island Airport (CIS) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is located 741 miles (1,193 kilometers) WSW of CIS.
• Kanton Island airport continued to see use during the 1950s as a trans-Pacific stopover for DC-4, DC-6B and DC-7C aircraft for Pan American, British Commonwealth Pacific, Qantas and Canadian Pacific Airlines, but with the advent of long-range jet aircraft during the 1960s, their need for the island faded, and the airfield and its associated facilities were ultimately abandoned in 1965.
• The airport was used as a military airfield during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 and 1943, initially being used by the 40th Ferrying Squadron, Ferrying Command as an airfield for moving combat aircraft to forward combat units.
• During World War II, Kanton Island was considered part of the British-controlled Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony.
• Because of Canton Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Canton Island 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.
• Though Kanton Island was never physically invaded by Japanese forces, the airfield was bombarded on 1 November 1943 by the Japanese submarine I-36.