Nonstop flight route between Hachinohe, Honshū, Japan and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE), Hachinohe, Honshū, Japan and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,509 miles (or 8,866 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE):

• The furthest airport from JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,480 miles (18,476 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• With the start of the Korean War in 1950, the base was turned over to the Japanese National Police Reserve, the immediate predecessor to the Japan Defense Agency.
• Because of JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base's relatively low elevation of 152 feet, planes can take off or land at JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base 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 closest airport to JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) is Misawa Air Base 三沢飛行場 Misawa Hikōjō (MSJ), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNW of HHE.
• JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is currently the headquarters of the JMSDF Fleet Air Wing 2, which is equipped with Kawasaki-Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, and which is responsible for patrols of the seaward approaches to northern Japan.
• JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base", other names for HHE include "八戸航空基地" and "Hachinohe Koku-kichi".

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The new tower is an extremely important facility for both ATC and the airport because it is related to the safety and security of flights, explained by the transport department.
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The VIP terminal is located in the western wing of Terminal 1 and has an entrance of its own, providing an access to four separate rooms – one main room and two separated rooms with about 20 seats each.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• On 19 August 2011 in the presence of Ivaylo Moskovski, minister of transport, information technology and communications, the BULATSA director general Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy AD chief executive director Pavel Kalistratov and Glavbolgarstroy AD executive director and management board member Nina Stoyanova signed the design execution and construction contract between BULATSA and Glavbolgarstroy AD for the new control tower at Sofia Airport.
• Sofia Airport, sometimes also called Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport, is the main airport of Bulgaria.