Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Osaka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Kansai International Airport (KIX), Osaka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,086 miles (or 13,013 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 Kansai International 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 Kansai International 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• The cargo terminal is located to the north of the passenger terminal, and is in the approximate centre of the airport precinct.
• 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 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 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.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 8 December 2009, it was reported that "King Shaka International Airport" was indeed the most popular name for the new airport.

Facts about Kansai International Airport (KIX):

• The furthest airport from Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,980 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Kobe Airport (UKB), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) N of KIX.
• On 17 February 2005, Chubu Centrair International Airport opened in Nagoya, just east of Osaka.
• Because of Kansai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Kansai 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kansai International Airport", other names for KIX include "関西国際空港" and "Kansai Kokusai Kūkō".
• An artificial island, 4 km long and 2.5 km wide, was proposed.
• As of 2008, the total cost of Kansai Airport was $20 billion including land reclamation, two runways, terminals and facilities.
• Kansai International Airport (KIX) has 2 runways.
• In May 2011, the Diet of Japan passed legislation to form a new Kansai International Airport Corporation using the state's existing equity stake in Kansai Airport and its property holdings at Itami Airport.
• The second runway opened on 2 August 2007, but with the originally planned terminal portion postponed.
• Kansai Airport plans to build a third terminal for use by low-cost carriers other than Peach, primarily Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Japan and other group companies.
• The island had been predicted to sink 5.7 m by the most optimistic estimate as the weight of the material used for construction compressed the seabed silts.