Nonstop flight route between Kunming, Yunnan, China and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG), Kunming, Yunnan, China and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,157 miles (or 13,128 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 Kunming Changshui International Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Kunming Changshui International Airport and RAF Ascension. 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 Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG):

• The furthest airport from Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is nearly antipodal to Kunming Changshui International Airport (meaning Kunming Changshui International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chañaral Airport), and is located 12,026 miles (19,353 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Kunming Changshui International Airport", other names for KMG include "昆明长水国际机场" and "Kūnmíng Chángshuǐ Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Construction began in 2009 and at the time was reported to be named the Zheng He International Airport.
• Because of Kunming Changshui International Airport's high elevation of 6,900 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KMG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KMG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The main 548,300 m2 terminal of Changshui Airport is the second largest terminal building in China.
• The new airport has two runways, and is expected to handle 38 million passengers per year by 2020.
• The closest airport to Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) is Wenshan Puzhehei Airport (WNH), which is located 138 miles (222 kilometers) SE of KMG.
• Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) has 2 runways.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• Wideawake Airfield was a US installation built in 1943 by arrangement with the British government.
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• The RAF presence on Ascension is backed up by United States Air Force personnel, who contribute a similar number of service personnel to ensure the effective running of the station, under the command of Captain Eduard Rodriguez, who is responsible to the RAF Station Commander.