Nonstop flight route between Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,402 miles (or 11,912 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 Greenville–Spartanburg International 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 Greenville–Spartanburg International 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 Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP):

• The airport can handle up to 250 passengers per hour through immigration and customs checkpoints.
• Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) currently has only 1 runway.
• GSP opened on October 15, 1962, replacing Greenville Downtown Airport as the primary airline destination in the region.
• Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport handled 1,856,316 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) is Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) WSW of GSP.
• In addition to being known as "Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport", another name for GSP is "Roger Milliken Field".
• The furthest airport from Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,449 miles (18,425 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport's relatively low elevation of 964 feet, planes can take off or land at Greenville–Spartanburg 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.
• Having been served by legacy carriers with large hubs in nearby Atlanta and Charlotte, GSP had historically been plagued with high fares.
• Local officials attribute Southwest's presence to an unprecedented 38 percent growth in passenger figures between 2010 and 2011.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.
• In July 2007, the post of Commander, Kandahar Airfield was created as a NATO appointment which, until recently, has been held by an officer of the Royal Air Force of OF-6 rank.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The airport was mostly used at this time for military and humanitarian purposes, hosting regular flights of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to and from Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat and Peshawar.
• The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade became the main U.S.
• The airport was built in the 1960s by the United States.
• 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.
• 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.