Nonstop flight route between Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Mafeteng, Lesotho:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Mafeteng Airport (MFC), Mafeteng, Lesotho would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,688 miles (or 12,372 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Mafeteng 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Mafeteng 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
• The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa.
• The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September.
• At the end of the Eisenhower presidency, around 1,700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific, 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• The mission of NAVCOMM Det Okinawa is to provide communications support for SEVENTH Fleet and supporting units, U.S.
• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".

Facts about Mafeteng Airport (MFC):

• The furthest airport from Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,788 miles (18,971 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Mafeteng Airport's high elevation of 5,350 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MFC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MFC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Mafeteng Airport (MFC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NE of MFC.