Nonstop flight route between Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from TBU to XSD:
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- About this route
- TBU Airport Information
- XSD Airport Information
- Facts about TBU
- Facts about XSD
- Map of Nearest Airports to TBU
- List of Nearest Airports to TBU
- Map of Furthest Airports from TBU
- List of Furthest Airports from TBU
- Map of Nearest Airports to XSD
- List of Nearest Airports to XSD
- Map of Furthest Airports from XSD
- List of Furthest Airports from XSD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU), Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,565 miles (or 8,956 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 Fuaʻamotu International Airport and Tonopah Test Range 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 Fuaʻamotu International Airport and Tonopah Test Range Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | TBU / NFTF |
Airport Name: | Fuaʻamotu International Airport |
Location: | Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga |
GPS Coordinates: | 21°14'27"S by 175°8'57"W |
Area Served: | Nukuʻalofa, Tonga |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Civil Aviation |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 126 feet (38 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from TBU |
More Information: | TBU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | XSD / KTNX |
Airport Name: | Tonopah Test Range Airport |
Location: | Tonopah, Nevada, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°47'40"N by 116°46'42"W |
View all routes: | Routes from XSD |
More Information: | XSD Maps & Info |
Facts about Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU):
- Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) has 2 runways.
- Because of Fuaʻamotu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Fuaʻamotu International 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 Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Lifuka Island Airport (HPA), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) NNE of TBU.
- The furthest airport from Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport (TMR), which is nearly antipodal to Fuaʻamotu International Airport (meaning Fuaʻamotu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,830 kilometers) away in Tamanrasset, Algeria.
- Under Tongan law, Fuaʻamotu International Airport is closed on Sundays — only to be opened in distress, after the minister's approval.
- It is the strength of the runway rather than the length that restricts operations from Fuaʻamotu.
Facts about Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):
- The earliest known depiction of the airfield was on the July 1970 Air Force Tactical Pilotage Chart.
- The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
- The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- Several locations were considered, Michael Army Airfield at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, and the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on the Goldwater Range in Arizona.
- The assets of the squadron could not go to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, and the fate of them remains in some cases, still classified.
- In 2003, after the seizure of the Iraqi Air Force Al-Taqaddum Air Base, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat was found buried in the sand after an informant tipped off U.S.