Nonstop flight route between Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Ust-Kut, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea and Ust-Kut Airport (UKX), Ust-Kut, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,102 miles (or 8,210 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 Ust-Kut 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 Ust-Kut 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):

• 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.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In January 1944, the Allies drove the Japanese out of Buka, and the airfield was used for operations against the Japanese over New Guinea.
• 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.
• On 26 July, an Imperial Japanese Navy special detachment was sent to inspect Buka Airfield, but considered it unacceptable as a prospect for a speedily constructed major airfield.

Facts about Ust-Kut Airport (UKX):

• Air traffic control provides Ust-Kut Department "Air Navigation of Eastern Siberia" FSUE Unitary enterprise "State ATM Corporation".Monitoring weather and meteoconsultation ANO "Irkutsk Meteoagency"
• The closest airport to Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) is Kirensk Airport (KCK), which is located 108 miles (173 kilometers) NE of UKX.
• The furthest airport from Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) is Ushuaia International Airport (USH), which is nearly antipodal to Ust-Kut Airport (meaning Ust-Kut Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ushuaia International Airport), and is located 12,167 miles (19,580 kilometers) away in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
• Ust-Kut Airport handled 24,291 passengers last year.
• During World War II an airfield was built here for the Alaska-Siberian air route used to ferry American Lend-Lease aircraft to the Eastern Front.
• The company "UTair Aviation" in 2007, becoming the controlling shareholder of the airport, announced its intention to build a new airport terminal and lengthen the runway to make a first-class aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Ust-Kut Airport", another name for UKX is "Аэропорт Усть-Кут".
• Ust-Kut Airport (UKX) currently has only 1 runway.