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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa and Valley International Airport (HRL), Harlingen, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,164 miles (or 14,749 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 Valley International 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 Valley International 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 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.
• 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 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.
• The airport was renamed in 1994.
• 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.
• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.

Facts about Valley International Airport (HRL):

• Because of Valley International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Valley International 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.
• On April 2, 2012, a United Airlines, Flight 4128, made an emergency landing at Corpus Christi due to unknown reason when it suffered damage to its front landing gear and also experienced a flat tire.
• The closest airport to Valley International Airport (HRL) is Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (BRO), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SSE of HRL.
• Valley International Airport (HRL) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Valley International Airport (HRL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,151 miles (17,946 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• After the airport's closure by the military, it was turned over to the local government and converted to civil use as Valley International Airport after Hurricane Beulah flooded the original Harlingen civil airport in 1967.