Nonstop flight route between Bintulu, Malaysia and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bintulu Airport (BTU), Bintulu, Malaysia and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,612 miles (or 12,250 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 Bintulu Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB, 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 Bintulu Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB. 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 Bintulu Airport (BTU):

• History of Bintulu airport began in early 1937 when the British colony built an airfield situated between a river at one end and the sea coast at the other end.
• The furthest airport from Bintulu Airport (BTU) is Carauari Airport (CAF), which is nearly antipodal to Bintulu Airport (meaning Bintulu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carauari Airport), and is located 12,315 miles (19,820 kilometers) away in Carauari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Bintulu Airport (BTU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1963, bigger types of aircraft such as DC-3 services were introduced.
• Bintulu Airport handled 779,774 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Bintulu Airport (BTU) is Belaga Airport (BLG), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) ESE of BTU.
• Because of Bintulu Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at Bintulu 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 "Bintulu Airport", other names for BTU include "Lapangan Terbang Bintulu" and "民都鲁机场".

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• In 1947 Tactical Air Command moved the 62d Troop Carrier Group to McChord Field from Bergstrom Field, Texas.
• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• The furthest airport from McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.