Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Bangkok, Thailand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,515 miles (or 8,875 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 King Shaka International and Suvarnabhumi 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 King Shaka International and Suvarnabhumi 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 King Shaka International (DUR):

• King Shaka International Airport, also known as La Mercy Airport, and abbreviated KSIA, is the primary airport serving Durban, South Africa.
• Because of King Shaka International's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at King Shaka International 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.
• The closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• The furthest airport from King Shaka International (DUR) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,682 miles (18,801 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• One of the objectives of the cargo terminal is to recapture local air freight traffic from JNB.
• On 8 December 2009, it was reported that "King Shaka International Airport" was indeed the most popular name for the new airport.
• The largest aircraft KSIA currently has scheduled services for is the Boeing 777-300ER, with Emirates operating Dubai–Durban, despite the fact that KSIA's runway length and terminal were designed to theoretically handle regular large airliners.
• The final obstacle was a delay in the approval of the project's Environmental Impact Assessment by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
• The airport is located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately 35 km north of Durban.
• Construction of the airport commenced on 24 August 2007, immediately after the approval of the EIA.

Facts about Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK):

• Months into its opening, issues such as congestion, construction quality, signage, provision of facilities, and soil subsidence continued to plague the project, prompting calls to reopen Don Mueang to allow for repairs to be done.
• A further delay was caused by the discovery that the airport had been built over an old graveyard, and superstitious construction workers claimed to have seen ghosts there.
• Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) has 2 runways.
• Because of Suvarnabhumi Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Suvarnabhumi 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.
• Fifty percent of the airport's construction cost was covered by Airports of Thailand, while the another 50% was from a friendly agreement of AOT and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
• The airport inherited the airport code, BKK, from Don Mueang after the older airport ceased international commercial flights.
• The furthest airport from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), which is nearly antipodal to Suvarnabhumi Airport (meaning Suvarnabhumi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Jorge Chávez International Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Callao (near Lima), Peru.
• The closest airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Suvarnabhumi Airport (NBK), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BKK.
• In addition to being known as "Suvarnabhumi Airport", other names for BKK include "ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ" and "VTBS".
• Airports of Thailand found that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years.