Nonstop flight route between Recife, Brazil and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC), Recife, Brazil and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,741 miles (or 17,286 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 Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC):

• On 18 January 1958, a new passenger terminal was inaugurated, replacing the original facility.
• Because of Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International 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.
• In 2004 a brand-new passenger terminal was built, including a new shopping mall, thus generating more traffic and revenue.
• In addition to being known as "Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport", another name for REC is "Aeroporto Internacional do Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre".
• Some of its facilities are shared with the Recife Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
• The airport is located 14 km from downtown Recife, 1 km from Boa Viagem Beach, and 25 km from Suape port.
• Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport handled 6,840,276 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC) is Presidente Castro Pinto International Airport (JPA), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) N of REC.
• In 1979, an agreement with Infraero was made in order to further develop the airport complex.
• Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC) is Guam International Airport (GUM), which is nearly antipodal to Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (meaning Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guam International Airport), and is located 12,066 miles (19,419 kilometers) away in Hagåtña, Guam.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• On 30 June 1959 an F-100 from the wing crashed on Okinawa during a training flight after suffering an engine fire.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized Lockheed C/MC-130 Hercules aircraft to the wing.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• Kadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• Twentieth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena on 16 May 1949.