Nonstop flight route between Luganville, Vanuatu and Gander, Newfoundland, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu and Gander International Airport (YQX), Gander, Newfoundland, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,144 miles (or 14,715 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Gander 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Gander International 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the Guadalcanal Campaign.
• As the war moved further north, Pekoa Airfield was closed on 8 February 1945 and all traffic routed to Palikulo Bay Airfield.
• The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa 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.
• The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.

Facts about Gander International Airport (YQX):

• During the Cold War Gander was notable for the number of persons from the former Warsaw Pact nations who defected there.
• With the advent of jets with longer range in the 1960s most flights no longer needed to refuel.
• On December 12, 1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed on take-off from, the then runway 22.
• The furthest airport from Gander International Airport (YQX) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,395 miles (18,338 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Following Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, the government renamed the airport Gander Airport and it came under the administration of Canada's federal Department of Transport.
• Runway 04/22 was extended from 8,400 to 10,500 ft in 1971.
• Following the war, the RCAF handed operation of the airfield back to the dominion government in March 1946, although the RCN's radio station remained and the military role for the entire facility was upgraded through the Cold War.
• To honour the people of Gander and Halifax for their support during the operation, Lufthansa named a new Airbus A340-300 "Gander/Halifax" on May 16, 2002.
• The closest airport to Gander International Airport (YQX) is St. John's International Airport (YYT), which is located 124 miles (199 kilometers) SE of YQX.
• Because of Gander International Airport's relatively low elevation of 496 feet, planes can take off or land at Gander 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.
• Gander International Airport (YQX) has 2 runways.