Nonstop flight route between Biak, Indonesia and Maun, Botswana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia and Maun Airport (MUB), Maun, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,656 miles (or 12,321 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Maun 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Maun 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):

• Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.
• Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese, of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944.
• Mokmer Airfield is located to the west of Mokmer village on Biak, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight and is the only one of the three currently used as an airport, now called Frans Kaisiepo International Airport.
• Sorido Airfield has been disused since 1962 and is located to the northwest of Mokmer, and is clearly visible on aerial photography.
• From August 1962 to 30 April 1963, Irian Jaya was administered by UNTEA.
• In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".
• The furthest airport from Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.

Facts about Maun Airport (MUB):

• The landing strip in those far-off days was what is today Maun’s main street, the strip later being moved away from the town centre to the present site of the airport.
• The aircraft were awaited as they brought news of the outside world, mail, medicines, foodstuffs, and above all, new people to a community hundreds of kilometres from the nearest big town.
• The furthest airport from Maun Airport (MUB) is Kona International Airport at Keāhole (KOA), which is nearly antipodal to Maun Airport (meaning Maun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kona International Airport at Keāhole), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Kailua / Kona, Hawaii, United States.
• The earliest known flights over the Okavango region took place in July 1925, and were part of a survey of the rivers of the Okavango region, using aircraft based in Livingstone.
• The closest airport to Maun Airport (MUB) is Ghanzi Airport (GNZ), which is located 165 miles (266 kilometers) SW of MUB.
• Maun Airport (MUB) currently has only 1 runway.