Nonstop flight route between Nairobi, Kenya and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from WIL to SPN:
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- About this route
- WIL Airport Information
- SPN Airport Information
- Facts about WIL
- Facts about SPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to WIL
- List of Nearest Airports to WIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WIL
- List of Furthest Airports from WIL
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPN
- List of Nearest Airports to SPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPN
- List of Furthest Airports from SPN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wilson Airport (WIL), Nairobi, Kenya and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,503 miles (or 12,075 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 Wilson Airport and Saipan 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 Wilson Airport and Saipan International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WIL / HKNW |
Airport Name: | Wilson Airport |
Location: | Nairobi, Kenya |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°19'12"S by 36°48'53"E |
Area Served: | Nairobi |
Operator/Owner: | Kenya Airports Authority |
Airport Type: | Public, Civilian |
Elevation: | 5546 feet (1,690 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from WIL |
More Information: | WIL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPN / PGSN |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 15°7'8"N by 145°43'45"E |
Operator/Owner: | Commonwealth Ports Authority |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 215 feet (66 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SPN |
More Information: | SPN Maps & Info |
Facts about Wilson Airport (WIL):
- This location is approximately 18 kilometres, by road, west of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the largest civilian airport in the country.
- The closest airport to Wilson Airport (WIL) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) E of WIL.
- Because of Wilson Airport's high elevation of 5,546 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Wilson Airport (WIL) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,619 miles (18,698 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
- Wilson Airport (WIL) has 2 runways.
Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):
- In 2005, Japan Airlines suspended its services from Japan to SPN.
- SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
- The airfield was liberated by the United States Army 27th Infantry Division on June 18, 1944 during the Battle of Saipan.
- Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan 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 furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
- A Star Marianas plane crashed during takeoff on November 17, 2012 on its return from Tinian.
- Saipan International Airport covers an area of 734 acres which contains one paved runway measuring 8,700 x 200 ft.
- With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.
- Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
- The IJNAS assigned two squadrons of Mitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944.