Nonstop flight route between Waterford, Ireland and Xiangfan, Hubei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Waterford Airport (WAT), Waterford, Ireland and Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN), Xiangfan, Hubei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,559 miles (or 8,947 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 Waterford Airport and Xiangyang Liuji 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 Waterford Airport and Xiangyang Liuji 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 Waterford Airport (WAT):

• Airport development was initiated by Waterford Corporation with support from the Government of Ireland and the private sector in 1979–1980.
• Passengers numbers through Waterford Airport in 2009 fall due to routes being suspended to Bordeaux, Faro, Malaga and Amsterdam and service reductions on routes to Birmingham, London Luton and Manchester.
• Because of Waterford Airport's relatively low elevation of 119 feet, planes can take off or land at Waterford 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.
• In addition to being known as "Waterford Airport", another name for WAT is "Aerfort Phort Láirge".
• The closest airport to Waterford Airport (WAT) is Kilkenny Airport (KKY), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) NNW of WAT.
• Waterford Airport handled 8,000 passengers last year.
• The nearest bus and coach station is 10km away in Waterford from where Bus Éireann provides services to Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Rosslare Europort, Wexford, Clonmel and Tramore.
• Between 1987 and 1988 Aer Lingus operated services to Dublin.
• The furthest airport from Waterford Airport (WAT) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Waterford Airport (meaning Waterford Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,013 miles (19,333 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Flybe announced a route to Manchester starting 22 May 2013, which was dropped by Aer Lingus Regional on 6 January.
• On 12 May 2010 Aer Arann announced an expansion of services from Waterford to London and Galway.

Facts about Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN):

• In addition to being known as "Xiangyang Liuji Airport", other names for XFN include "襄阳刘集机场" and "Xiāngyáng Liújí Jīchǎng".
• Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport (UAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (meaning Xiangyang Liuji Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in San Juan Province, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Nanyang Jiangying Airport (NNY), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNE of XFN.