Nonstop flight route between East London, South Africa and Khost, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa and Khost Airport (KHT), Khost, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,341 miles (or 8,595 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 Khost 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 Khost 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.
• 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.
• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.

Facts about Khost Airport (KHT):

• Expanded by the Soviets in the 1980s to support bombing activity during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, it has packed dirt runways now maintained by the U.S.
• In December 2009, seven CIA employees were killed in a suicide attack at the nearby Forward Operating Base Chapman.
• Khost Airport (KHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Work began to improve the Khost Airport in September 2011.
• The furthest airport from Khost Airport (KHT) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Khost Airport (meaning Khost Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,009 miles (19,326 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Khost Airport", other names for KHT include "Khost Airport (Khost)", "دخوست هوائی ډګر" and "KDH".
• The closest airport to Khost Airport (KHT) is Bannu Airport (BNP), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SE of KHT.
• There had been three major reported accidents, all of them during the 1980s mujahideen fighting and involved Russian-made Antonov An-26 aircraft.