Nonstop flight route between Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Xieng Khouang, Laos:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH), Xieng Khouang, Laos would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,869 miles (or 9,446 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 Xieng Khouang 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 Xieng Khouang 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 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 closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• 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 project was then hit by a tender war between the Illembe consortium and the Indiza consortium.
• 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 response to the study, ACSA contracted De-Tect Inc.
• 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.

Facts about Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH):

• The furthest airport from Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH) is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport (NZC), which is nearly antipodal to Xieng Khouang Airport (meaning Xieng Khouang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Nazca, Ica Region, Peru.
• The closest airport to Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH) is Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), which is located 73 miles (117 kilometers) WNW of XKH.
• In addition to being known as "Xieng Khouang Airport", another name for XKH is "ສະຫນາມບິນຊຽງຂວາງ".