Nonstop flight route between Diomede, Alaska, United States and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO), Diomede, Alaska, United States and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,418 miles (or 7,110 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 Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) and Qamdo Bamda 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 Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) and Qamdo Bamda 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 Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO):

• During the Nome gold rush at the turn of the 19th century, Diomede villagers traveled to Nome along with the gold seekers, even though Nome was not a native village.
• Because of Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2)'s relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) 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.
• An electric system was built on the island in the 1970s and electricity is provided by city-operated Diomede Joint Utilities.
• The island's only school, and likely the most isolated school in the United States, the Diomede School has grades from Pre-K through 12 and approximately 40 students and 5 teachers.
• After the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, an interest of reuniting with families across the Bering Strait revived.
• The closest airport to Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Wales Airport (WAA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DIO.
• The location of the city is believed to have been used for at least 3,000 years as a hunting campsite.
• The furthest airport from Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,411 miles (16,755 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.

Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):

• Visitors are warned before landing to move slowly on leaving the plane and that they may feel light headed or dizzy because of the thin air.
• The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
• Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
• At an elevation of 4,334 m above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world.
• In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".
• Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.