Nonstop flight route between Austin, Texas, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,039 miles (or 12,937 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 Austin–Bergstrom International Airport and Kabul International 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 Austin–Bergstrom International Airport and Kabul International 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 Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS):

• The closest airport to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is Austin Executive Airport (EDC), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NNE of AUS.
• Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) has 2 runways.
• In the 1950s, developers began building residential areas beneath the flight paths of Mueller and, in parallel, the number of arrivals and departures at the airport increased dramatically because of the growth of the city.
• Because of Austin–Bergstrom International Airport's relatively low elevation of 542 feet, planes can take off or land at Austin–Bergstrom 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.
• Bergstrom had the designator BSM until Mueller's final closure in 1999, when it took Mueller's IATA code of AUS.
• Austin–Bergstrom International Airport opened to the public on May 23, 1999 with a 12,250 feet runway, among the nation's longest commercial runways.
• A new dedicated facility known as the South Terminal Austin was approved by the Austin City Council in order to accommodate the arrival of Mexican-based, low-cost airline, VivaAerobus, which launched operations on May 1, 2008.
• The furthest airport from Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,050 miles (17,783 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Currently Southwest Airlines is the airline flying with the most passengers out of ABIA.
• A total of 10,017,958 passengers traveled through the Austin–Bergstrom International Airport in 2013, an all-time high and the first year that more than 10 million people used the airport.
• Austin–Bergstrom International Airport handled 10,017,958 passengers last year.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Afghan government has been slow in rebuilding the facility, the vast majority of it has been reclaimed from years of neglect and damage by Soviet and Taliban soldiers.
• Kandahar International Airport is located 10 miles south-east of Kandahar City in Afghanistan.
• The airport came into the public eye during the tense drama that was played out when Pakistani terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, who hijacked and landed Indian Airlines Flight 814 on the airfield in December 1999, ordered the Government of India to ensure the release and safe-passage of three alleged Pakistani terrorists in return for letting the occupants of the passenger plane leave without harm.
• The 2009 surge in NATO operations in southern Afghanistan pushed the number of aircraft operations at the base from 1,700 to 5,000 flights a week.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".