Nonstop flight route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,305 miles (or 8,537 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 Santa Fe Municipal 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 Santa Fe Municipal 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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF):

• Because of Santa Fe Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,348 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SAF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SAF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Santa Fe Municipal Airport covers 2,128 acres at an elevation of 6,348 feet above mean sea level.
• Trans World Airlines had a flight a day each way until 1960.
• The furthest airport from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,972 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) has 3 runways.
• On March 1, 2013, it was announced that Santa Fe Municipal Airport may lose funding for operating its control tower due to federal budget cuts, leading to concerns that the airport may lose its commercial airline service.
• The closest airport to Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Los Alamos Airport (LAM), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NNW of SAF.
• On July 27, 2009 American Eagle announced a second daily flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
• On 26 December 1940, implementing the Hepburn Board's recommendations, a pioneer party of 80 men and 2,000 short tons of equipment sailed for Wake Island from Oahu.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.