Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Basankusu, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Basankusu Airport (BSU), Basankusu, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,921 miles (or 6,310 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 Shannon Airport and Basankusu 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 Shannon Airport and Basankusu 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In 1966, Aer Lingus began service between Shannon and Chicago, with a stop in Montréal, Canada.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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 last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia and Chicago, a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Aer Lingus announced on 15 June 2010 that it would be suspending services from Shannon to Boston and New York for 11 weeks from January 2011.
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".

Facts about Basankusu Airport (BSU):

• The closest airport to Basankusu Airport (BSU) is Impfondo Airport (ION), which is located 123 miles (198 kilometers) WNW of BSU.
• The furthest airport from Basankusu Airport (BSU) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Basankusu Airport (meaning Basankusu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,140 miles (19,537 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.