Nonstop flight route between East London, South Africa and Fort Stockton, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa and Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST), Fort Stockton, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,572 miles (or 15,405 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County 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):

• In 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site, 9 km west of the city centre.
• East London Airport resides at an elevation of 435 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to East London Airport (ELS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WSW of 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.
• The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.
• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.
• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.
• 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.

Facts about Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST):

• The furthest airport from Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,286 miles (18,163 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Inactivated on 12 March 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
• The airport opened as Gibbs Field, or Fort Stockton Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II.
• The closest airport to Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Pecos Municipal Airport (PEQ), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NW of FST.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport", another name for FST is "Gibbs Army Airfield".
• Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) has 4 runways.
• Opened on 1 June 1942 with two 2,500' turf runways.