Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Niigata, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, United States and Niigata Airport (KIJ), Niigata, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,601 miles (or 10,623 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field and Niigata 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field and Niigata 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD):

• The closest airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of EFD.
• Several years later in 1927, Ellington's status was again threatened as local city leaders began to discuss the construction of a municipal airport.
• Though the 111th Observation Squadron had the excess World War I storage and maintenance facilities at Ellington Field, the squadron did not have a true headquarters building.
• The furthest airport from Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,008 miles (17,716 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field", another name for EFD is "Ellington Field JRB".
• In 1943 Ellington Field became the site for advanced navigator training.
• In 1952, Air Training Command expanded the training program at Ellington with the establishment of a multi-engine flying training program as part of Flying Training Air Force.
• For the first months of operation, Ellington Field had no pilot fatalities.
• New construction designated under the "Grow the Army" project was completed in 2010.

Facts about Niigata Airport (KIJ):

• In addition to being known as "Niigata Airport", other names for KIJ include "新潟空港" and "Niigata Kūkō".
• Because of Niigata Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Niigata 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 Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The airport saw several major service expansions in the spring of 2012, when China Eastern Airlines, Fuji Dream Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced service to Shanghai, Nagoya and Narita respectively.
• Niigata Airport (KIJ) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Shonai Airport (SYO), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) NNE of KIJ.