Nonstop flight route between Christmas Island, Kiribati and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cassidy International Airport (CXI), Christmas Island, Kiribati and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,349 miles (or 15,046 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 Cassidy International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Cassidy International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Cassidy International Airport (CXI):

• On 29 August 2008, Air Pacific announced they would suspend flights operating the airport from 2 September 2008.
• Cassidy International Airport is an airport located north of Banana, a settlement on Kiritimati in Kiribati.
• The airport is at an elevation of 5ft above mean sea level.
• Cassidy International Airport (CXI) currently has only 1 runway.
• During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command used the airport as a refuelling stop on its Pacific transport route from Hawaii to Kanton Island for flights to Australia and New Zealand as well as a staging point for attacks on the Gilbert Islands, then occupied by Japan.
• The closest airport to Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Manihiki Island Airport (MHX), which is located 891 miles (1,433 kilometers) SSW of CXI.
• The furthest airport from Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Ikela Airport (IKL), which is nearly antipodal to Cassidy International Airport (meaning Cassidy International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ikela Airport), and is located 12,367 miles (19,903 kilometers) away in Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Because of Cassidy International Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Cassidy International 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The project for the construction of a new airport control tower at Sofia Airport commenced on 16 June 2006 with a decision of the BULATSA Management Board.
• Contract for detailed design and construction of a new control tower of the airport and forming an ATM Glavbolgarstroy.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• The initial completion deadline for the new terminal was 15 December 2004 to a total budget of 112.2 million euro.