Definition of an Air Mile

An air mile is a unit of measurement used by pilots when flying. It has a deep history in navigation and is based on the nautical mile.

Function

An air mile is used to measure the length of travel of an airplane.

Size

An air mile is one navigational minute, which is 1,852 meters.

Fun Fact

A navigational minute is a measurement determined by breaking each segment of the Earth's latitude into 60 minutes.

Identification

In airplanes, air miles often are measured and recorded automatically by the airplane log to tell the airline companies how far the airplane has traveled. Air miles also can be calculated using a map of the flight path.

History

An air mile was based on the measurement used by sailors and ship captains, and also can be called a nautical mile or knot.

Geography

The Earth is 21,000 minutes, or air miles, around.

Resources

• Definition of Knot
• Definition of Air Miles