Nonstop flight route between Valenciennes, France and Cayenne, French Guiana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France and Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), Cayenne, French Guiana would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,494 miles (or 7,232 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• It was seized by the Germans in late May 1940 during the early part of the Battle of France.
• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.
• It is known that Denain was used by the Royal Air Force, as it was assigned ALG "B-74".
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• It appears that the Luftwaffe moved out of Denain in 1941 and the airfield was left unused.
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• After being used for a brief time as a storage depot for excess aircraft after the war ended by Air Technical Service Command, the Americans turned the airfield back over to French authorities on 25 June 1945.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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.
• Reconstruction of the airport included an entirely new asphalt runway, aligned 11/29, along with appropriate taxiways, ramp space and new infrastructure buildings on the north-west side of the airfield.
• Denain Airport was cleared of German forces by Allied ground forces about 11 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign.

Facts about Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY):

• Because of Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Saül Airport (XAU), which is located 102 miles (163 kilometers) SW of CAY.
• In 2009, passenger traffic totaled 400,025 passengers compared to 2008 with 385,142 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Pattimura Airport (PTA) (AMQ), which is nearly antipodal to Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (meaning Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pattimura Airport (PTA)), and is located 12,354 miles (19,882 kilometers) away in Ambon, Indonesia.
• Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The name of Rochambeau creates controversy because of the bad reputation of the son of the dedicatee of the airport, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau who during the Saint-Domingue expedition harshly repressed the Haitian Revolution.
• In addition to being known as "Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport", another name for CAY is "Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué".