Nonstop flight route between Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Bubaque, Guinea-Bissau:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Bubaque Airport (BQE), Bubaque, Guinea-Bissau would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,633 miles (or 5,847 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 Bubaque 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 Bubaque 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):

• 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.
• The inconvenience of not having a ground component for the "Nova Scotia International Air Show" as a result of the Shearwater Heliport Conversion Project saw the entire event moved to Halifax Stanfield International Airport beginning in 2004.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• Shearwater Heliport's primary mission remains as a heliport in support of the Royal Canadian Navy's Maritime Forces Atlantic warships with shipborne helicopters operated by 12 Wing, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
• By 2002 only runway 10/28 remained open.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• The combined land and sea-based aerodromes were used to station carrier-based maritime patrol and fighter aircraft.

Facts about Bubaque Airport (BQE):

• Bubaque Airport (BQE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Bubaque Airport (BQE) is Kirakira Airport (IRA), which is nearly antipodal to Bubaque Airport (meaning Bubaque Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kirakira Airport), and is located 12,272 miles (19,750 kilometers) away in Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands.
• Because of Bubaque Airport's relatively low elevation of 80 feet, planes can take off or land at Bubaque 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 Bubaque Airport (BQE) is Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (OXB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) NNE of BQE.