Nonstop flight route between Spokane, Washington, United States and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SKA to BPX:
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- About this route
- SKA Airport Information
- BPX Airport Information
- Facts about SKA
- Facts about BPX
- Map of Nearest Airports to SKA
- List of Nearest Airports to SKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SKA
- List of Furthest Airports from SKA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BPX
- List of Nearest Airports to BPX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BPX
- List of Furthest Airports from BPX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,621 miles (or 10,655 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 Fairchild Air Force Base and Qamdo Bamda 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 Fairchild Air Force Base and Qamdo Bamda Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SKA / KSKA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Spokane, Washington, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°36'54"N by 117°39'20"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SKA |
More Information: | SKA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BPX / ZUBD |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°33'12"N by 97°6'30"E |
Area Served: | Qamdo, Tibet, China |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 14436 feet (4,400 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BPX |
More Information: | BPX Maps & Info |
Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):
- On 15 March 1966, the 336th Combat Crew Training Group was established at Fairchild.
- The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- As an added incentive to the War Department, many Spokane businesses and public-minded citizens donated money to purchase land for the base.
- On 13 March 1987, a KC-135A crashed into a field adjacent to the 92nd Bomb Wing headquarters and the taxiway during a practice flight for an In-Flight Refueling Demonstration planned for later that month.
- In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
- As military operations in Vietnam escalated in the mid-1960s, the demand for air refueling increased.
- 7 December 1993 marked the beginning of a significant change in the mission of Fairchild when the B-52s were transferred to another ACC base while the KC-135s, now assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command would remain.
- The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):
- The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Qamdo.
- The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
- In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".
- Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
- Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.