Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Leonardtown, Maryland, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW), Leonardtown, Maryland, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,352 miles (or 13,442 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 St. Mary's County Regional 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 St. Mary's County Regional 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 terminal does not have a public viewing deck, which has attracted public criticism.
• 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.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW):

• In addition to being known as "St. Mary's County Regional Airport", other names for LTW include "Capt. Walter Francis Duke Regional Airport", "none" and "2W6".
• The closest airport to St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW) is Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of LTW.
• Because of St. Mary's County Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 142 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Mary's County Regional 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 furthest airport from St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,720 miles (18,862 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW) currently has only 1 runway.