Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AWK to SMV:
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- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- SMV Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about SMV
- 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 SMV
- List of Nearest Airports to SMV
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMV
- List of Furthest Airports from SMV
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Samedan Airport (SMV), St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,663 miles (or 12,333 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 Samedan 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 Samedan 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: | SMV / LSZS |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland |
GPS Coordinates: | 46°32'2"N by 9°53'2"E |
Area Served: | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Airport Type: | Public and military |
Elevation: | 5600 feet (1,707 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMV |
More Information: | SMV Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
- 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.
- Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
- 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 Samedan Airport (SMV):
- Because of Samedan Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SMV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SMV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Samedan Airport (SMV) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) SW of SMV.
- In addition to being known as "Samedan Airport", another name for SMV is "Flughafen Engadin".
- Samedan Airport (SMV) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Samedan Airport (SMV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Samedan Airport (meaning Samedan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,075 miles (19,433 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The airport was used as one of the locations for filming "Where Eagles Dare".