Nonstop flight route between Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,355 miles (or 11,836 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 St. Louis Downtown 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 St. Louis Downtown 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 St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS):

• Because of St. Louis Downtown Airport's relatively low elevation of 413 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Louis Downtown 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.
• St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) has 3 runways.
• The two survivors out of the airport's original four hangars, Hangar 1 and Hangar 2, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• The furthest airport from St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,998 miles (17,700 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport closed in 1959 and reopened six years later as Bi-State Parks Airport.
• The closest airport to St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) NW of CPS.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense.
• 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.
• 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.
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.
• 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.
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Since 2007, the airport is maintained by NATO under the International Security Assistance Force banner, although a prominent base for the US and Canadian Forces, many other Armed Forces are based there.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".