Nonstop flight route between Alta, Norway and Butterworth, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alta Airport (ALF), Alta, Norway and RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,558 miles (or 8,945 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 Alta Airport and RMAF Butterworth, 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 Alta Airport and RMAF Butterworth. 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 Alta Airport (ALF):

• The furthest airport from Alta Airport (ALF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,502 miles (16,901 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Alta Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Alta 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.
• Alta Airport (ALF) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Alta Airport", another name for ALF is "Alta lufthavn".
• A proposal by a consultant company, ordered by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 2011, suggested that starting in 2013 the subsidized routes in Finnmark should follow a coastal route, leaving those to Kirkenes and the county capital of Vadsø as the only subsidized routes remaining at Alta.
• Local politicians started discussing the airfield plans again in the mid-1950s, and an airport for Alta was included in the national airport plan launched in 1956.
• SAS Commuter was established in 1988 and started operations in Northern Norway in May 1990, making Alta its central hub for Finnmark.
• Alta Airport handled 353,051 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Alta Airport (ALF) is Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of ALF.
• Activity at Alta Airport peaked in the following years.
• SAS bought Braathens in 2001, resulting in the latter taking over the service to Oslo starting on 1 April 2002.
• Avinor decided in February 2007 to build a new passenger terminal and tower for NOK 300 million.

Facts about RMAF Butterworth (UTE):

• In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", other names for UTE include "TUDM Butterworth", "BWH" and "WMKB".
• The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is RMAF Butterworth (BWH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of UTE.
• RMAF Butterworth is an Air Force Station of the Royal Malaysian Air Force situated 4.5 nautical miles from Butterworth in the state of Penang, directly opposite the island itself.
• Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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 furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
• During the Malayan Emergency that was to last from 1948 to 1960, RAF as well as RAAF and RNZAF units stationed at the airfield played an active role from 1950 in helping to curb the communist insurgency in the jungles of Malaya by attacking suspected hideouts and harassing the communist guerrillas.
• RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.