Nonstop flight route between Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada and Alotau, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between CFB Goose Bay (YYR), Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada and Gurney Airport (GUR), Alotau, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,012 miles (or 14,504 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 CFB Goose Bay and Gurney 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 CFB Goose Bay and Gurney 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 CFB Goose Bay (YYR):

• On 11 September 2001, CFB Goose Bay hosted seven trans-Atlantic commercial airliners which were diverted to land as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, following the closure of North American airspace as a result of terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
• The closest airport to CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Rigolet Airport (YRG), which is located 100 miles (161 kilometers) NE of YYR.
• The Canadian Forces continued to use Goose Bay for staging interceptor aircraft, however Canadian Forces Air Command concentrated on purchasing the new CF-18 interceptor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• In addition to being known as "CFB Goose Bay", another name for YYR is "Goose Bay Airport".
• Because of CFB Goose Bay's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at CFB Goose Bay 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 response to lessons learned from the Vietnam War and the growing sophistication of Soviet anti-aircraft radar and surface-to-air missile technology being deployed in Europe, NATO allies began looking at new doctrines in the 1970s–1980s which mandated low-level flight to evade detection.
• The furthest airport from CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,164 miles (17,967 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• CFB Goose Bay (YYR) has 2 runways.
• The base was initially a Royal Canadian Air Force station and later a United States Air Force base known as Goose AFB, housing units of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Defense Command.
• During the 1980s–1990s, CFB Goose Bay hosted permanent detachments from the Royal Air Force, Luftwaffe, Royal Netherlands Air Force, and the Aeronautica Militare, in addition to temporary deployments from several other NATO countries.

Facts about Gurney Airport (GUR):

• Gurney Airport (GUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gurney Airport (GUR) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Gurney Airport (GUR) is Vivigani Airport (VIV), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) N of GUR.
• Because of Gurney Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Gurney 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 airfield was reopened in early 1966, as a part of the Australian colonial policy of having each of the provincial capitals served by daily flights.