Nonstop flight route between Forres, Scotland, United Kingdom and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kinloss Barracks (FSS), Forres, Scotland, United Kingdom and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,828 miles (or 7,769 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 Kinloss Barracks and Qamdo Bamda 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 Kinloss Barracks and Qamdo Bamda 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 Kinloss Barracks (FSS):

• During the Cold War Kinloss squadrons carried out anti-submarine duties, locating and shadowing Russian naval units.
• The station defences were gradually established and by May 1940, Group Captain Jarman reported that the defence of Kinloss was in order.
• Because of Kinloss Barracks's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kinloss Barracks 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 December 2009, the MOD announced the premature retirement of the Nimrod MR2 by March 2010 and that the introduction of the Nimrod MRA4 would be delayed to 2012.
• The closest airport to Kinloss Barracks (FSS) is RAF Lossiemouth (LMO), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ENE of FSS.
• The furthest airport from Kinloss Barracks (FSS) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,616 miles (18,694 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In November 1980 two pilots, Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Noel Anthony and RAF Flying Officer Stephen Belcher were killed when their aircraft struck birds on take off and crashed in woods to the east of Kinloss airfield.
• Kinloss Barracks (FSS) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):

• Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Qamdo.
• The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• At an elevation of 4,334 m above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world.
• The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
• Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".