Nonstop flight route between San Tomé, Venezuela and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Tomé Airport (SOM), San Tomé, Venezuela and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,468 miles (or 13,628 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé Airport (SOM):

• San Tomé Airport (SOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from San Tomé Airport (SOM) is Selaparang Airport (AMI), which is nearly antipodal to San Tomé Airport (meaning San Tomé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Selaparang Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Mataram, Indonesia.
• Because of San Tomé Airport's relatively low elevation of 837 feet, planes can take off or land at San Tomé 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 San Tomé Airport (SOM) is El Tigre Airport (ELX), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of SOM.
• In addition to being known as "San Tomé Airport", another name for SOM is "Aeropuerto Don Edmundo Barrios".

Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
• 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.