Nonstop flight route between Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM), Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,383 miles (or 16,710 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 Buka Island Airport and Johan Adolf Pengel 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 Buka Island Airport and Johan Adolf Pengel 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 Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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 Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• In January 1944, the Allies drove the Japanese out of Buka, and the airfield was used for operations against the Japanese over New Guinea.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Buka Airport is an airport serving Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
• Today the airport is the primary air portal into Bougainville, and even 60 years after the war, wreckage from the military use of the airfield by the Japanese and Americans is easily found in the area.
• On 13 May 1943 Allied reconnaissance observed 36 fighters and 6 bombers at the airstrip.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.

Facts about Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM):

• With the United States entry into the war in December 1941, the importance of Zandery Field increased drastically, becoming a major transport base on the South Atlantic route of Air Transport Command ferrying supplies and personnel to Freetown Airport, Sierra Leone and onwards to the European and African theaters of the war.
• Prior to World War II, Zandery Airport was a Pan American World Airways stop.
• Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Betoambari Airport (BUW), which is nearly antipodal to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (meaning Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Betoambari Airport), and is located 12,282 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Bau-Bau, Buton, Indonesia.
• Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij, 45 kilometres south of Paramaribo.
• The closest airport to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of PBM.
• The intensive flying of the first two months of the war soon took its toll, however, and by the end of February 1942, the Squadron was forced to report that it had but three B-18A's operational at Zandery and that "....
• Because of Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Johan Adolf Pengel 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.
• As of May 2013, the following passenger airlines operate at the airport