Nonstop flight route between Groton, Connecticut, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Groton-New London Airport (GON), Groton, Connecticut, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,734 miles (or 10,837 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 Groton-New London Airport and Kabul 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 Groton-New London Airport and Kabul 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 Groton-New London Airport (GON):

• The closest airport to Groton-New London Airport (GON) is Elizabeth Field (FID), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) S of GON.
• In 1980, the name of the airport changed to Groton-New London Airport.
• Groton-New London Airport was established as the first State of Connecticut airport in 1929.
• Because of Groton-New London Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Groton-New 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.
• Groton-New London Airport (GON) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Groton-New London Airport (GON) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,794 miles (18,980 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Over the years, and usually no more than one at a time, various domestic airlines served the airport, including Pan Am Clipper Connection, NewAir, Allegheny, Piedmont, and Pilgrim Airlines.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Since 2007, the airport is maintained by NATO under the International Security Assistance Force banner, although a prominent base for the US and Canadian Forces, many other Armed Forces are based there.
• Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR.
• The airport came into the public eye during the tense drama that was played out when Pakistani terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, who hijacked and landed Indian Airlines Flight 814 on the airfield in December 1999, ordered the Government of India to ensure the release and safe-passage of three alleged Pakistani terrorists in return for letting the occupants of the passenger plane leave without harm.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Eight General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon close air support fighters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force were deployed to Kandahar Airfield to support the expanded NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in late 2006.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.