Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Freetown, Sierra Leone:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AWK to FNA:
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- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- FNA Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about FNA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to FNA
- List of Nearest Airports to FNA
- Map of Furthest Airports from FNA
- List of Furthest Airports from FNA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Lungi International Airport (FNA), Freetown, Sierra Leone would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,509 miles (or 16,913 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 Wake Island Airfield and Lungi International 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 Wake Island Airfield and Lungi International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWK / PWAK |
Airport Name: | Wake Island Airfield |
Location: | Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°16'56"N by 166°38'12"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AWK |
More Information: | AWK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FNA / GFLL |
Airport Name: | Lungi International Airport |
Location: | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
GPS Coordinates: | 8°36'59"N by 13°11'43"W |
Area Served: | Freetown; Lungi |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 84 feet (26 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from FNA |
More Information: | FNA Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.
- From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
- The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
- The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.
- Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield 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.
Facts about Lungi International Airport (FNA):
- Lungi International Airport handled 167,911 passengers last year.
- Because of Lungi International Airport's relatively low elevation of 84 feet, planes can take off or land at Lungi International 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.
- On August 11, 2004 at around 2:30 p.m.
- The closest airport to Lungi International Airport (FNA) is Hastings Airport (HGS), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) SSE of FNA.
- On June 3, 2007, a helicopter flight from Freetown exploded and crashed on landing at Lungi airport, killing all 22 people on board.
- Lungi International Airport (FNA) currently has only 1 runway.
- Passengers have the choice of ferry, the new Pelican Water Taxi or an ex-Isle of Wight Hovercraft docked in the Aberdeen district of Freetown to cross the bay to Freetown.
- The furthest airport from Lungi International Airport (FNA) is Ulawa Airport (RNA), which is nearly antipodal to Lungi International Airport (meaning Lungi International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ulawa Airport), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Arona, Ulawa Island, Solomon Islands.