Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and West Chicago, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and DuPage Airport (DPA), West Chicago, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,597 miles (or 5,788 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 DuPage 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 DuPage 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):

• CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Aeroflot began to suffer, which was a big loss to the airport.
• In November 2013, Aer Lingus announced a new twice-weekly service from Shannon to Malaga.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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.
• Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport through 2008.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.

Facts about DuPage Airport (DPA):

• The closest airport to DuPage Airport (DPA) is Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport (AUZ), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) SW of DPA.
• The airport has faced severe political criticism in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Because of DuPage Airport's relatively low elevation of 759 feet, planes can take off or land at DuPage 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 airport grew from 900 acres in 1985 to 2,800 acres by 1992, with the goal of maintaining control of all the property surrounding the runway complex.
• However, planners learned a lesson from the plight of the beleaguered, land-locked Midway Airport.
• DuPage Airport (DPA) has 4 runways.
• In June 2010, the board of the DuPage National Technology Park, an 800-acre technology park that secured a $34 million state grant called for the dissolution of their organization.
• The furthest airport from DuPage Airport (DPA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,056 miles (17,792 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.