Nonstop flight route between Paris-Orly, Paris, France and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Paris Orly Airport (ORY), Paris-Orly, Paris, France and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,639 miles (or 12,293 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 Paris Orly Airport and Wake Island Airfield, 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 Paris Orly Airport and Wake Island Airfield. 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 Paris Orly Airport (ORY):

• Paris Orly Airport (ORY) has 3 runways.
• The USAAF diagram from March 1947 shows the 6140-foot 27/207 runway with 5170-foot 81/261 runway crossing it at its north end.
• Prior to the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly was the main airport of Paris.
• Paris Orly Airport handled 28,274,154 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Paris Orly Airport (ORY) is Toussus-le-Noble Airport (TNF), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of ORY.
• In addition to being known as "Paris Orly Airport", another name for ORY is "Aéroport de Paris-Orly".
• Because of Paris Orly Airport's relatively low elevation of 291 feet, planes can take off or land at Paris Orly 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 furthest airport from Paris Orly Airport (ORY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Paris Orly Airport (meaning Paris Orly Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,093 miles (19,461 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.
• Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
• The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield 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.