Nonstop flight route between Bangkok, Thailand and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand and Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,555 miles (or 8,940 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 Suvarnabhumi Airport and Pietermaritzburg 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 Suvarnabhumi Airport and Pietermaritzburg 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 Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK):

• The 8,400 acres plot of land occupied by the airport was purchased in 1973, but the student-led protests on 14 October that year led the overthrow of the military government of Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn and the project was shelved.
• Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) has 2 runways.
• Suvarnabhumi was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September 2006.
• The airport has two parallel runways and two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals.
• On 15 September 2006, the airport started limited daily operations with Jetstar Asia Airways operating three Singapore to Bangkok flights 3K511.
• Airports of Thailand found that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years.
• Because of Suvarnabhumi Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Suvarnabhumi 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.
• In addition to being known as "Suvarnabhumi Airport", other names for BKK include "ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ" and "VTBS".
• The closest airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Suvarnabhumi Airport (NBK), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BKK.
• Symbolic first test flights involving two Thai Airways aircraft were held on 29 September 2005, a previously announced deadline for opening.
• The furthest airport from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), which is nearly antipodal to Suvarnabhumi Airport (meaning Suvarnabhumi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Jorge Chávez International Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Callao (near Lima), Peru.

Facts about Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB):

• Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,706 miles (18,839 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB) is King Shaka International (DUR), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) E of PZB.