Nonstop flight route between Fletcher, North Carolina, United States and Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Fletcher, North Carolina, United States and Kumamoto Airport (KMJ), Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,248 miles (or 11,664 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 Asheville Regional Airport and Kumamoto 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 Asheville Regional Airport and Kumamoto 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 Asheville Regional Airport (AVL):

• Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) currently has only 1 runway.
• On July 19, 1967 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Boeing 727, collided in mid-air with a Cessna 310 just south of the airport in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
• The closest airport to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of AVL.
• The furthest airport from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,430 miles (18,395 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In April 2010 President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama landed in Asheville aboard Air Force One for a weekend getaway.
• On March 14, 2003 a Cessna 177 Cardinal crashed into Old Fort Mountain after taking off from the airport.
• A Concorde visited AVL during a 1987 promotional tour and was snowed-in overnight.

Facts about Kumamoto Airport (KMJ):

• The furthest airport from Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kumamoto Airport (meaning Kumamoto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of KMJ.
• China Airlines charter service to Kaohsiung was announced in 2014 in order to cater to packaged tours from Taiwan.
• Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kumamoto Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumamoto 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.
• The first Kumamoto Airport opened in 1960 on the site of a former Imperial Japanese Army air base and had a 1,200 m runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kumamoto Airport", other names for KMJ include "熊本空港" and "Kumamoto Kūkō".