Nonstop flight route between Akrotiri, Cyprus and Altay, Xinjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus and Altay Airport (AAT), Altay, Xinjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,938 miles (or 4,729 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 RAF Akrotiri and Altay 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 RAF Akrotiri and Altay 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 RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• The station hosted the main hospital for British Forces Cyprus, The Princess Mary's Hospital, located on Cape Zevgari.
• Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it is often used by British allies when needed, such as for casualty reception for Americans after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and as a staging post before heading into theatres of combat in the Middle East/Persian Gulf theaters.
• The furthest airport from RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,556 miles (18,598 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The U-2s of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used in Operation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information about Hezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• Akrotiri was first constructed in the mid-1950s to relieve pressure on the main RAF station on the island, RAF Nicosia.
• In August 1970 a detachment of "G" of the Central Intelligence Agency arrived at the airfield with U-2 aircraft to monitor the Egypt/Israel Suez Canal fighting and cease fire.

Facts about Altay Airport (AAT):

• The furthest airport from Altay Airport (AAT) is Cochrane Airfield (LGR), which is located 11,536 miles (18,566 kilometers) away in Cochrane, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Altay Airport", other names for AAT include "阿勒泰机场" and "Ālètài Jīchǎng".
• Altay Airport (AAT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Altay Airport (AAT) is Kanas Airport (KJI), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) WNW of AAT.