Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Milano, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Milano, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,385 miles (or 8,667 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 Milan Malpensa 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 Milan Malpensa 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):

• As a result, a study into the risks of bird strikes at KSIA was commissioned, with special attention being paid to the Barn Swallows at Mount Moreland.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• 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 arrivals area is located on the lower floor, with a baggage reclaim hall containing 5 conveyors that can be allocated between domestic and international use.
• 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.
• It is unclear what the fate of the existing Durban International Airport will be now that KSIA is complete.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.

Facts about Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP):

• During the night of 24/25 October 1998 Alitalia moved the majority of its fleet from Rome-Fiumicino – where it had flown from for over 50 years – to Malpensa Airport, which then started a new lease of life as the Italian flag carrier's main hub.
• In addition to being known as "Milan Malpensa Airport", another name for MXP is "Aeroporto di Milano-Malpensa "Città di Milano"".
• The closest airport to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of MXP.
• Taxis are available at the Arrivals of Terminal 1 & 2.
• Terminal 2 is currently used by EasyJet only.
• Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) has 2 runways.
• Milan Malpensa Airport handled 18,537,301 passengers last year.
• Malpensa was the 21st busiest airport in Europe in terms of passengers, handling 18,947,808 passengers in 2010 and 18,537,301 in 2012.
• The furthest airport from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Milan Malpensa Airport (meaning Milan Malpensa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.