Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and McCarthy, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and McCarthy Airport (MXY), McCarthy, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,046 miles (or 6,511 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 McCarthy 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 McCarthy 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):

• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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 handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• Scottish Aviation built a factory using the original terminal building and hangars at Prestwick, which from 1974 produced such aircraft as the Prestwick Pioneers, and later the Jetstream and Bulldog.
• Today, Ryanair serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.
• According to a 2008 Master Plan the departure lounge is at capacity and congested during peak operations.
• 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.
• Today, part of the Prestwick site is occupied by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm with RNAS Prestwick, where a detachment of 3 Sea Kings provide a search and rescue role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and 200 NM past the Irish coast.
• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• On 6 July 2005, Prestwick Airport became the entry point for the participants in the 31st G8 summit held in Gleneagles.
• 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.

Facts about McCarthy Airport (MXY):

• In addition to being known as "McCarthy Airport", another name for MXY is "15Z".
• The furthest airport from McCarthy Airport (MXY) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,473 miles (16,855 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• McCarthy Airport is a state owned, public use airport located one nautical mile northeast of the central business district of McCarthy, in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area of the U.S.
• The closest airport to McCarthy Airport (MXY) is May Creek Airport (MYK), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SE of MXY.
• McCarthy Airport (MXY) currently has only 1 runway.