Nonstop flight route between Gilgit, Pakistan and Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gilgit Airport (GIL), Gilgit, Pakistan and Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,535 miles (or 5,689 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 Gilgit Airport and Tawau 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 Gilgit Airport and Tawau 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 Gilgit Airport (GIL):

• The furthest airport from Gilgit Airport (GIL) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,793 miles (18,979 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Gilgit Airport (GIL) is Chilas Airport (CHB), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) SSW of GIL.
• Because of Gilgit Airport's high elevation of 4,796 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Gilgit Airport (GIL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Tawau Airport (TWU):

• The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.
• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• Tawau Airport is located at Balung, 3 km further in from the Pan Borneo Highway.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• The airport was subsequently opened to public in December 2001.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Tawau airport is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• The furthest airport from Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• However on 15 September 1995, a Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m before the end of the 2,200 m long runway.
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau 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.