Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Mississippi, United States and Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States and Mbala Airport (MMQ), Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,263 miles (or 13,298 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 Columbus Air Force Base and Mbala 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 Columbus Air Force Base and Mbala 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 Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,373 people residing on the base.
• The citizens' efforts bore fruit.
• The Columbus flying school received its first aircraft, nine Beech AT-10s and twenty-one AT-8s in early 1942.
• The 454th Bombardment Wing completed more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire.
• Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command.
• With the Korean War at an end and pilot production needs dropping, the decision was made to close the contract flying school at Columbus.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1965 the 454th converted to B-52D, which was re-engineered for conventional bomb missions over Southeast Asia, although some B-52Cs were also assigned during 1968–69.

Facts about Mbala Airport (MMQ):

• Mbala Airport (MMQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,674 miles (18,788 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• The closest airport to Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Kasaba Bay Airport (ZKB), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) WNW of MMQ.
• Because of Mbala Airport's high elevation of 5,454 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MMQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MMQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.