Nonstop flight route between Bossier City, Louisiana, United States and Cape Town, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States and Cape Town International Airport (CPT), Cape Town, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,596 miles (or 13,834 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 Barksdale Air Force Base and Cape Town 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 Barksdale Air Force Base and Cape Town 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 Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• The 335th Bombardment Group took over training duties as a permanent Operational Training Unit on 17 July 1942 with Martin B-26 Marauders.
• Due to budget reductions in the B-45 program, the air force planned to inactivate the 47th Bomb Wing and transfer its B-45s and personnel to Yokota AB, Japan so Far East Air Forces could benefit from the know-how gained by the 47th at Barksdale.
• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• By the mid-1930s, Barksdale Field was the headquarters and main base of the 3rd Attack Wing, equipped with the Curtiss A-12 and Northrop A-17.
• Barksdale is one of two remaining bases with assigned B-52 aircraft, all H models.
• Units at Barksdale include the oldest bomb wing in the Air Force, the 2d Bomb Wing.
• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.
• The site was selected 5 December 1928, as the location of the airfield.
• Barksdale Field was renamed Barksdale Air Force Base on 13 January 1948, with the designation of the United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947.

Facts about Cape Town International Airport (CPT):

• With the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s, ownership of the airport was transferred from the state to the newly formed Airports Company South Africa, and the airport was renamed to the politically neutral Cape Town International Airport.
• Because of Cape Town International Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Town 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.
• The closest airport to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 217 miles (349 kilometers) E of CPT.
• The furthest airport from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,616 miles (18,693 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• The airport provides approximately 1,424 parking bays in the general parking area, and 1,748 parking bays in the multi-storey parkade located near the domestic terminal.
• Cape Town International Airport was opened in 1954, a year after Jan Smuts Airport on the Witwatersrand opened.
• Retail outlets are located on the lower level of the terminal at landside, as well as airside at the departure gates.
• Cape Town International Airport (CPT) has 2 runways.
• Cape Town International Airport handled 8,505,563 passengers last year.
• The terminal building has a split-level design, with departures located in the upper floors and arrivals in the lower floors.