Nonstop flight route between Saint-Louis, Senegal and Luganville, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saint-Louis Airport (XLS), Saint-Louis, Senegal and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,189 miles (or 19,616 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 Saint-Louis Airport and Santo-Pekoa 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 Saint-Louis Airport and Santo-Pekoa International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between XLS and SON makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Saint-Louis Airport and Santo-Pekoa 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 XLS and SON are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Saint-Louis, Senegal and Luganville, Vanuatu 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 XLS and SON!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Saint-Louis Airport (XLS):

• The furthest airport from Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) is Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), which is nearly antipodal to Saint-Louis Airport (meaning Saint-Louis Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santo-Pekoa International Airport), and is located 12,189 miles (19,616 kilometers) away in Luganville, Vanuatu.
• Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) has 2 runways.
• Because of Saint-Louis Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Saint-Louis 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 Saint-Louis Airport (XLS) is Richard Toll Airport (RDT), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) ENE of XLS.
• In addition to being known as "Saint-Louis Airport", another name for XLS is "Aéroport de Saint-Louis".

Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• 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 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.
• Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
• 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 closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.