Nonstop flight route between Rainbow Lake, Alberta, Canada and Akrotiri, Cyprus:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rainbow Lake Airport (YOP), Rainbow Lake, Alberta, Canada and RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,811 miles (or 9,352 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 Rainbow Lake Airport and RAF Akrotiri, 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 Rainbow Lake Airport and RAF Akrotiri. 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 Rainbow Lake Airport (YOP):

• Rainbow Lake Airport (YOP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rainbow Lake Airport (YOP) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,120 miles (16,286 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Rainbow Lake Airport (YOP) is High Level Airport (YOJ), which is located 81 miles (131 kilometers) E of YOP.

Facts about RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• In September 1976 the US U-2 operations were turned over to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, but the U-2 operation at RAF Akrotiri continued to be called Operating Location OH until September 1980.
• The station commander is double-hatted and is also the officer commanding the Akrotiri or Western Sovereign Base Area, reporting to the commander of British Forces Cyprus who is also the Administrator.
• The furthest airport from RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,556 miles (18,598 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• Akrotiri is also the winter training grounds of the RAF display team, the Red Arrows.
• Royal Air Force Akrotiri or more simply RAF Akrotiri is a large Royal Air Force station, on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
• Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it is often used by British allies when needed, such as for casualty reception for Americans after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and as a staging post before heading into theatres of combat in the Middle East/Persian Gulf theaters.
• The U-2s of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used in Operation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information about Hezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities.
• In March 2011, the station was used as a staging base for support aircraft involved in Operation Ellamy.