Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Hammerfest Airport (HFT), Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,940 miles (or 11,168 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 Hammerfest 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 Hammerfest 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 (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 27 January 2014 the worlds largest passenger aircraft, an Airbus A380-800 of British Airways landed at KSIA becoming the first A380 to do so.
• The cargo terminal is located to the north of the passenger terminal, and is in the approximate centre of the airport precinct.
• The closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• 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.
• 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.
• Despite wide expectations that the airport would be named "King Shaka International Airport", it emerged in October 2009 that the airport needed to undergo a formal naming process.
• 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.
• Neighbouring communities are Tongaat to the north-west, Verulam to the south-west, and Umdloti to the south-east.

Facts about Hammerfest Airport (HFT):

• The helicopter operations were taken over by Norsk Helikpoter when they opened their base on 11 November 2004.Airport security was introduced on 1 January 2005.
• Hammerfest Airport handled 120,503 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Hasvik Airport (HAA), which is located 38 miles (60 kilometers) WSW of HFT.
• In addition to being known as "Hammerfest Airport", another name for HFT is "Hammerfest lufthavn".
• The furthest airport from Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,456 miles (16,828 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Hammerfest Airport's relatively low elevation of 262 feet, planes can take off or land at Hammerfest 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.
• The Widerøe Dash 8-103 aircraft LN-WIK underwent a hard landing on 1 May 2005.
• DNL resumed the Hammerfest route in 1946, connecting the town to Tromsø, Vadsø and Kirkenes with a Junkers Ju 52.