Nonstop flight route between Council, Alaska, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Council Airport (CIL), Council, Alaska, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,265 miles (or 8,473 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 Council Airport and Kabul 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 Council Airport and Kabul 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 Council Airport (CIL):

• The furthest airport from Council Airport (CIL) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,298 miles (16,572 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Council Airport (CIL) is White Mountain Airport (WMO), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SSE of CIL.
• Council Airport (CIL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Council Airport", another name for CIL is "K29".
• Because of Council Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Council 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.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• The airport was mostly used at this time for military and humanitarian purposes, hosting regular flights of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to and from Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat and Peshawar.
• As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy also had based a squadron of Harrier GR7A aircraft at Kandahar Airfield to provide close air support to coalition ground forces replacing USMC AV-8B's.
• The deployments in February 2006 brought Task Force Afghanistan in Kandahar to about 2,250 personnel.
• During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the airfield was used intensively by the Soviet Air Forces, both as logistical facility for flying in troops and supplies and as a base for launching airstrikes against local Mujahideen groups.