Nonstop flight route between Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati and Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG), Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,698 miles (or 9,169 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 Butaritari Atoll Airport and Fort Sumner Municipal 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 Butaritari Atoll Airport and Fort Sumner Municipal 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 Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG):

• Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Americans pulled out at the end of 1944, abandoning the airfield.
• The closest airport to Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Marakei Airport (MZK), which is located 78 miles (126 kilometers) SSE of BBG.
• Butaritari Atoll Airport is an airport on Butaritari in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati.
• Because of Butaritari Atoll Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Butaritari Atoll 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 furthest airport from Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Cape Palmas Airport (CPA), which is located 11,920 miles (19,183 kilometers) away in Cape Palmas, Liberia.
• The airfield was the base of operations for the United States Army Air Forces Seventh Air Force 41st Bombardment Group which flew four squadrons of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers.

Facts about Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU):

• The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.
• The closest airport to Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) E of FSU.
• The furthest airport from Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,971 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".
• The facility was inactivated on November 15, 1945 and returned to civil control.
• For the 12-month period ending April 9, 2011, the airport had 150 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 12 per month.
• Because of Fort Sumner Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.