Nonstop flight route between Luganville, Vanuatu and Dakar, Senegal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu and Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (DKR), Dakar, Senegal would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,118 miles (or 19,502 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Léopold Sédar Senghor International 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between SON and DKR makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between SON and DKR are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Luganville, Vanuatu and Dakar, Senegal by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between SON and DKR!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• Santo-Pekoa International Airport is an airport in Luganville on Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
• As the war moved further north, Pekoa Airfield was closed on 8 February 1945 and all traffic routed to Palikulo Bay Airfield.
• The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.

Facts about Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (DKR):

• Construction of a replacement airport 45 km inland from Léopold Sédar Senghor began in 2007.
• Because of Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Léopold Sédar Senghor International 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 is also home to the French Air Force's Dakar-Ouakam Air Base.
• The furthest airport from Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (DKR) is Kirakira Airport (IRA), which is nearly antipodal to Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (meaning Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kirakira Airport), and is located 12,138 miles (19,533 kilometers) away in Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands.
• Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport handled 1,500,000 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (DKR) is Kaolack Airport (KLC), which is located 105 miles (168 kilometers) ESE of DKR.
• During World War II, Dakar Airport was a key link in the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command Natal-Dakar air route, which provided a transoceanic link between Brazil and French West Africa after 1942.
• Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (DKR) has 2 runways.
• The airport has often been used as a stopover on flights between North America and Southern Africa.
• The head office of Sénégal Airlines is located on the airport property.
• In addition to being known as "Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport", another name for DKR is "Aéroport international Léopold-Sédar-Senghor".