Nonstop flight route between Christmas Island, Australia and Kleyate / Tripoli, Lebanon:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Christmas Island Airport (XCH), Christmas Island, Australia and Rene Mouawad Air Base (KYE), Kleyate / Tripoli, Lebanon would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,509 miles (or 8,866 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 Christmas Island Airport and Rene Mouawad Air Base, 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 Christmas Island Airport and Rene Mouawad Air Base. 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 Christmas Island Airport (XCH):

• The closest airport to Christmas Island Airport (XCH) is Cibeureum Airfield (TSY), which is located 276 miles (445 kilometers) NE of XCH.
• The airport's location at the top of a hill, with a 2% mid-runway gradient, makes it a challenging landing for pilots.
• A brief revival of the "old days" happened in 2001 during the "Tampa" crisis when the heightened Royal Australian Air Force traffic was complemented by a large number of Department of Immigration and Citizenship and media charters.
• From the late 1940s, when the island was still a British colony administered by Singapore and the Straits Settlements Administration, it was serviced occasionally by Royal Air Force Short Sunderland flying boats before the construction of the airport.
• The furthest airport from Christmas Island Airport (XCH) is Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Christmas Island Airport (meaning Christmas Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,944 kilometers) away in Barranquilla, Colombia.
• Christmas Island Airport (XCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Christmas Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 916 feet, planes can take off or land at Christmas Island 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.
• Christmas Island Airport handled 27,286 passengers last year.

Facts about Rene Mouawad Air Base (KYE):

• In addition to being known as "Rene Mouawad Air Base", another name for KYE is "مطار الرئيس الشهيد رينيه معوض".
• Rene Mouawad Air Base (KYE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2010, Lebanon’s director general of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority, Dr Hamdi Chaouk announced that Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport would be built at Kleyate with construction due to start in 2011.
• In the early 1960s, the air base was a small airport owned by an oil company, who used small IPC airplanes for transporting its engineers, staff and workers between Lebanon and the Arab countries.
• The furthest airport from Rene Mouawad Air Base (KYE) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,486 miles (18,484 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Rene Mouawad Air Base (KYE) is Bassel al-Assad International Airport (LTK), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) N of KYE.
• Because of Rene Mouawad Air Base's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Rene Mouawad Air Base 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.