Nonstop flight route between Gisenyi, Rwanda and Mountain View, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gisenyi Airport (GYI), Gisenyi, Rwanda and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,368 miles (or 15,076 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 Gisenyi Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield, 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 Gisenyi Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield. 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 Gisenyi Airport (GYI):

• Because of Gisenyi Airport's high elevation of 5,082 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GYI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GYI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Gisenyi Airport (GYI) is Goma Airport (GOM), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) WNW of GYI.
• Gisenyi Airport is an airport in Rwanda.
• Gisenyi Airport (GYI) currently has only 1 runway.
• RwandAir, the national carrier, operated a three weekly service between Gisenyi Airport and Kigali International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Gisenyi Airport (GYI) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,980 miles (19,280 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
• Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal Airfield 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.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Upon taking jurisdiction of Moffett Field, the Army took on the high cost of Hangar One's maintenance and wanted to inactivate the facility.
• The adjacent NASA Ames Research Center is also home to several wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.
• The US Navy is evaluating options for remediating the PCBs, lead and asbestos, and NASA is evaluating options for reuse of the hangar.
• An episode of the Discovery Channel TV show MythBusters used one of the hangars to disprove the myth that it is not possible to fold a sheet of paper in half more than seven times.
• Moffett Federal Airfield has occasional air traffic, with an average of 5-10 flights landing per day.