Nonstop flight route between Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Brest, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Brest Bretagne Airport (BES), Brest, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,750 miles (or 4,425 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 Shearwater Heliport and Brest Bretagne 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 Shearwater Heliport and Brest Bretagne 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 Shearwater Heliport (YAW):

• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• Defence cutbacks and unit and facility realignments from 1994 to 1996 saw CFB Shearwater stand down as a separate formation and the facility merged as an airfield attached to CFB Halifax.
• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport 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.
• Beginning in the 1970s, CFB Shearwater began hosting an Armed Forces Day every fall, typically on the weekend following Labour Day, and included an air show where the long and wide runways at Shearwater hosted some of the largest aircraft in the world, including the U.S.
• These changes allowed for heliport operations including instrument approaches and were accompanied with the construction of other non-airfield facilities in support of the Maritime Helicopter Project.
• The air show moved to Yarmouth Airport in 2009 but returned to Shearwater in 2010, the first time since 2003 that an air show was held at the historic airfield.
• During the late 1990s and early 2000s the Shearwater airfield was scaled back significantly as the facility transitioned to a heliport with surplus lands identified and transferred to Canada Lands Company.

Facts about Brest Bretagne Airport (BES):

• Because of Brest Bretagne Airport's relatively low elevation of 325 feet, planes can take off or land at Brest Bretagne 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 summer of 2011, long-due replacement of the ILS all-weather landing system causes numerous aborted landings/re-routing of passenger jets when foggy conditions occur, affecting all companies operating to/from this airport.
• The closest airport to Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) is Morlaix - Ploujean Airport (MXN), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) ENE of BES.
• Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Brest Bretagne Airport", another name for BES is "Aéroport de Brest Bretagne".
• The furthest airport from Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Brest Bretagne Airport (meaning Brest Bretagne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,130 miles (19,522 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.