Nonstop flight route between Ketchikan, Alaska, United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB), Ketchikan, Alaska, United States and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,452 miles (or 11,992 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 Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base and Santos Dumont 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 Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base and Santos Dumont 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 Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB):

• The closest airport to Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB) is Ketchikan International Airport (KTN), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) WNW of WFB.
• In addition to being known as "Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base", another name for WFB is "5KE".
• The furthest airport from Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,613 miles (17,079 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base has one seaplane landing area designated NW/SE which measures 10,000 x 1,500 ft.
• Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base 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.

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• With the gradual shift of international operations to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport opened in 1952, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont lost its place as an international hub, but for many years retained its position of a major hub for domestic traffic, particularly until 1960, when the capital of Brazil was moved to Brasília.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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.
• Adjoining the original seaplane terminal, Pan American World Airways and its Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brasil constructed their own dedicated terminal for seaplanes and aircraft with landing gear.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal.
• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• Due to a fire that almost destroyed the main terminal in 1999, the passenger terminal building was closed for 6 months.