Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Dover, Delaware, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Dover Air Force Base (DOV), Dover, Delaware, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,209 miles (or 5,164 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 Dover Air Force Base, 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 Dover Air Force Base. 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 1936, the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a 3.1 km2 site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• In November 2012, Aer Lingus also confirmed a new three-times-weekly service to Faro, Portugal, operating from May to September with an Airbus A320, strengthening Shannon's summer-sun destinations.
• 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 closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Delta Air Lines operated to Atlanta until 2007.
• 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.
• The 1960s proved to be difficult for Shannon Airport.

Facts about Dover Air Force Base (DOV):

• In 1944 the Air Technical Service Command chose Dover as a site to engineer, develop, and conduct classified air-launched rocket tests.
• In March 1989, C-5s from Dover delivered special equipment used to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.
• The furthest airport from Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,750 miles (18,909 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Some of the more memorable flights during the post-war period included the airdrop and test firing of a Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile and the delivery of a 40-ton superconducting magnet to Moscow during the Cold War, for which the crew received the Mackay Trophy.
• Dover AFB is also the home for the largest military mortuary in the Department of Defense, and has been used for processing military personnel killed in both war and peacetime.
• Construction of Municipal Airport, Dover Airdrome began in March 1941 and the facility was opened on December 17, 1941.
• In addition to being known as "Dover Air Force Base", another name for DOV is "Dover AFB".
• By 2008, the air traffic tower serving the airfield, built in 1955, was the oldest such tower in use in the United States Air Force.
• * Was a subbase of Camp Springs AAF, Maryland, June 6, 1943 – April 15, 1944.
• The closest airport to Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) NE of DOV.