Nonstop flight route between Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands and Okinawa, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR), Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands and Naha Airport (OKA), Okinawa, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,285 miles (or 5,287 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 Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) and Naha 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 Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) and Naha 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 Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR):

• The furthest airport from Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Cap Skirring Airport (CSK), which is nearly antipodal to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (meaning Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap Skirring Airport), and is located 12,138 miles (19,533 kilometers) away in Cap Skirring, Senegal.
• The field was abandoned after the war, but reopened in 1969 as a modernized civilian airport.
• Control of the airstrip was the focus of months of fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II.
• The closest airport to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Mbambanakira Airport (MBU), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) SSW of HIR.
• Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field)'s relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) 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 Naha Airport (OKA):

• The closest airport to Naha Airport (OKA) is Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) NE of OKA.
• The furthest airport from Naha Airport (OKA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Naha Airport (meaning Naha Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Naha Airport", other names for OKA include "那覇空港" and "Naha Kūkō".
• The airport is served by the Okinawa Monorail which carries passengers from Naha-kūkō Station to the center of Naha, and to the terminal at Shuri Station near Shuri Castle.
• Because of Naha Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Naha 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.
• Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.
• Naha Airport (OKA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The basic and detailed design engineering works in addition to the later construction management phase of the main passenger terminal were awarded in the 1990s in part to the Japan Branch of the American design-build engineering company, The Austin Company, which joined Japanese firms in a joint venture design consortium.
• Congested Naha Airport served 14,495,054 passengers in FY2006, roughly similar numbers in 2012.