Nonstop flight route between East London, South Africa and Cotonou, Benin:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa and Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO), Cotonou, Benin would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,193 miles (or 5,138 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 East London Airport and Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 East London Airport and Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 East London Airport (ELS):

• The furthest airport from East London Airport (ELS) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,569 miles (18,618 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of East London Airport's relatively low elevation of 436 feet, planes can take off or land at East London 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.
• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.
• In 1944 a new airport was built at Collondale, about 2 km west of the present terminal building.
• The closest airport to East London Airport (ELS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WSW of ELS.
• In 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site, 9 km west of the city centre.
• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.

Facts about Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO):

• Plans were revived in 2011 and President Yayi Boni presided at a ceremonial start to the construction of the new airport, using South African funding.
• The closest airport to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) ENE of COO.
• Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 2004, the airport served 301,493 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (meaning Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,172 miles (19,589 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
• In 1974, it was decided to move the operations of the Cotonou international airport to a new facility in Glo-Djigbé.