Nonstop flight route between Gaza, Palestine and Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA), Gaza, Palestine and Ishigaki Airport (ISG), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,360 miles (or 8,627 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) and Ishigaki 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) and Ishigaki 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA):

• The closest airport to Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) is Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) N of GZA.
• Because of the short supply in construction materials in Gaza, stones of the airport's tarmac are used for rebuilding other structures.
• In addition to being known as "Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED)", another name for GZA is "مطار ياسر عرفات الدولي".
• The furthest airport from Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,736 miles (18,887 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The International Civil Aviation Organization strongly condemned Israel for the destruction of the airport, which it deemed a violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
• Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport opened in 1998.
• Because of Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED)'s relatively low elevation of 320 feet, planes can take off or land at Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) 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.

Facts about Ishigaki Airport (ISG):

• The new airport has a 2,000 m runway, expandable to 2,500 m.
• Because of Ishigaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 86 feet, planes can take off or land at Ishigaki 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 furthest airport from Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Ishigaki Airport (meaning Ishigaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• Ishigaki Airport (ISG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Hateruma Airport (HTR), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SW of ISG.
• None of the 138 passengers and crew were killed in the accident, but 67 were injured.
• Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 took off on runway 36 from Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa at 13:09 for a regular flight to Ishigaki Airport, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Ishigaki Airport", other names for ISG include "石垣空港" and "Ishigaki Kūkō".