Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Shaoguan, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Shaoguan Guitou Airport (HSC), Shaoguan, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,794 miles (or 9,325 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Shaoguan Guitou 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Shaoguan Guitou 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• Today, Ryanair serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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 airport was owned by Infratil, a New Zealand company and majority owner of Wellington International Airport Infratil also owned Manston Airport until November 2013.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• There had been proposed plans drawn up pre-war for the post war years which would have been classed as extremely ambitious, especially in the austere post-war years.
• The United States Air Force operated a base in 1952 on the site of the original airport using former Royal Air Force facilities 1631st Air Base Squadron), and in 1953 on the Monkton side of the airport, both used by the USAF MATS.
• According to a 2008 Master Plan the departure lounge is at capacity and congested during peak operations.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• Glasgow Prestwick Airport is considered to be the only piece of United Kingdom territory on which Elvis Presley ever set foot, when the United States Army transport plane carrying him home stopped to refuel in 1960, en route from Germany.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Facts about Shaoguan Guitou Airport (HSC):

• The furthest airport from Shaoguan Guitou Airport (HSC) is Martín Miguel de Güemes International Airport (SLA), which is nearly antipodal to Shaoguan Guitou Airport (meaning Shaoguan Guitou Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Martín Miguel de Güemes International Airport), and is located 12,367 miles (19,903 kilometers) away in Salta, Salta Province, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Shaoguan Guitou Airport (HSC) is Ganzhou Huangjin Airport (KOW), which is located 104 miles (167 kilometers) NE of HSC.
• In addition to being known as "Shaoguan Guitou Airport", other names for HSC include "韶关桂头机场" and "Sháoguān Guìtóu Jīchǎng".