Nonstop flight route between Hoedspruit, South Africa and Rayong, Thailand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS), Hoedspruit, South Africa and U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (UTP), Rayong, Thailand would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,364 miles (or 8,633 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 Air Force Base Hoedspruit and U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya 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 Air Force Base Hoedspruit and U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya 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 Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS):

• Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS) has 2 runways.
• The base was officially opened on 1 July 1978.
• A civil airport terminal, known as the Eastgage Airport, was established at the southern end of the airfield in the early 1990s.
• The furthest airport from Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,932 miles (19,202 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS) is Hendrik Van Eck Airport (PHW), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NNE of HDS.
• The base is teeming with wildlife, being surrounded by the 25 km² AFB Hoedspruit Game Reserve.
• The base motto is Pro Nostrorum Pace.

Facts about U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (UTP):

• U-Tapao-Pattaya International Airport also spelled Utapao and U-Taphao, is a joint civil-military public airport serving Rayong and Pattaya, cities in Thailand.
• Because of U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya 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.
• In addition to being known as "U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport", another name for UTP is "ท่าอากาศยานนานาชาติ อู่ตะเภา-ระยอง-พัทยา".
• U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (UTP) currently has only 1 runway.
• As many as 100,000 passengers were stranded in Thailand until early-December.
• The closest airport to U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (UTP) is Hua Hin Airport (HHQ), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) W of UTP.
• The furthest airport from U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (UTP) is Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), which is nearly antipodal to U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport (meaning U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Jorge Chávez International Airport), and is located 12,302 miles (19,798 kilometers) away in Callao (near Lima), Peru.
• On 28 October 1977, a Douglas DC-3 of Air Vietnam was hijacked to U-Tapao International Airport where the four hijackers surrendered.