Nonstop flight route between Columbia, Missouri, United States and Tau, American Samoa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbia Regional Airport (COU), Columbia, Missouri, United States and Tau Airport (TAV), Tau, American Samoa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,171 miles (or 9,931 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 Columbia Regional Airport and Tau 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 Columbia Regional Airport and Tau 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 Columbia Regional Airport (COU):

• The 2013 Federal sequester will result in the closure of the airport's contract control tower and will require pilots to rely on air traffic controllers from other area airports.
• Columbia Regional Airport (COU) has 2 runways.
• Scheduled passenger service was subsidized by the U.S.
• The furthest airport from Columbia Regional Airport (COU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,886 miles (17,519 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Columbia Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 889 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbia Regional 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 Columbia Regional Airport (COU) is Jefferson City Memorial Airport (JEF), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) SSE of COU.
• In 2008, Northwest Airlink replaced US Airways Express using Saab 340 aircraft with service to Memphis.

Facts about Tau Airport (TAV):

• Tau Airport (TAV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Tau Airport (TAV) is Zinder Airport (ZND), which is nearly antipodal to Tau Airport (meaning Tau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Zinder Airport), and is located 12,331 miles (19,845 kilometers) away in Zinder, Niger.
• The closest airport to Tau Airport (TAV) is Fitiuta Airport (FTI), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) E of TAV.
• In addition to being known as "Tau Airport", other names for TAV include "none" and "HI36".
• Tau Airport previously covered an area of 4 acres which contains one runway measuring 2,170 x 100 ft.
• Because of Tau Airport's relatively low elevation of 185 feet, planes can take off or land at Tau 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.