Nonstop flight route between Alotau, Papua New Guinea and Shafter, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gurney Airport (GUR), Alotau, Papua New Guinea and Shafter Airport (MIT), Shafter, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,657 miles (or 10,714 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 Gurney Airport and Shafter 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 Gurney Airport and Shafter 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 Gurney Airport (GUR):

• The airport is a single runway general aviation facility, however in December, 2008, the PNG Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Don Polye announced that aviation company Skyworld had been granted permission to operate direct flights from Cairns, Australia to Gurney.
• Because of Gurney Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Gurney 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 airport resides at an elevation of 88 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Gurney Airport (GUR) is Vivigani Airport (VIV), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) N of GUR.
• Gurney Airport (GUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gurney Airport (GUR) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.

Facts about Shafter Airport (MIT):

• For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2011, the airport had 45,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 123 per day.
• The closest airport to Shafter Airport (MIT) is Meadows Field (BFL), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ESE of MIT.
• Shafter Airport (MIT) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Shafter Airport", another name for MIT is "Minter Field".
• In August, the first operational training units s began arriving at Minter, the airfields mission being advanced pilot training of USAAC bomber, attack, transport and pursuit pilots.
• The furthest airport from Shafter Airport (MIT) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,404 miles (18,353 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Shafter Airport's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Shafter 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.