Nonstop flight route between Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Johannesburg, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Toncontín International Airport (TGU), Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,200 miles (or 13,196 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 Toncontín International Airport and Grand Central 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 Toncontín International Airport and Grand Central 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 Toncontín International Airport (TGU):

• On July 7, 2008, President Zelaya announced the reopening of Toncontín airport at a news conference following a three-hour meeting with businessmen, who had demanded commercial flights resume at Toncontín due to Soto Cano Air Base being too far from Tegucigalpa.
• In addition to being known as "Toncontín International Airport", another name for TGU is "Aeropuerto Internacional Toncontín".
• Toncontín International Airport (TGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Toncontín International Airport (TGU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Toncontín International Airport (meaning Toncontín International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,530 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• On May 30, 2008, the tragedy of TACA Flight 390 prompted the announcement by then Honduran President Manuel Zelaya that all large aircraft operations would move to the Soto Cano Air Base.
• Since the 19th century, the plains south of Tegucigalpa became known as the "Potrero Los Llanos", part of a farm adjoining the farm Loarque.
• The airport received much notoriety as being one of the most dangerous in the world due to its proximity to mountainous terrain, its short runway, and its historically difficult approach to runway 02.
• Toncontín International Airport handled 493,000 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Toncontín International Airport (TGU) is Soto Cano Air Base (XPL), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of TGU.
• The civil war in 1924 caused Tiburcio Carías to realize that aviation had a great future in Honduras, providing an ideal transport solution for a mountainous country.

Facts about Grand Central Airport (GCJ):

• Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
• The airfield was started in the 1930s by a group of motor racing enthusiasts who were also interested in flying.
• The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• This is a small airfield that is restricted to light aircraft only.
• Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.