Nonstop flight route between Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,459 miles (or 13,614 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 Pope Field, 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 Pope Field. 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):

• In 2004, the airport experienced some closures due to land disputes.
• The closest airport to Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.

Facts about Pope Field (POB):

• On December 1, 1974 the Military Airlift Command took responsibility for tactical airlift and assumed command of Pope with all of its assigned units.
• The United States Air Force 43d Airlift Group was activated at Pope on March 1, 2011.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• The 317th TAW flew the C-130E aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• Pope AFB is named after First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope who was killed on January 7, 1919, when the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny he was flying crashed into the Cape Fear River.
• Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
• In addition, the USAF 18th Air Support Operations Group, 427th Special Operations Squadron, 21st Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and Air Force Combat Control School operate from Pope Field.