Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), Houston, Texas, United States and Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN), Balikpapan, East Kalimantan would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,554 miles (or 15,376 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 William P. Hobby Airport and Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman 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 William P. Hobby Airport and Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman 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 William P. Hobby Airport (HOU):

• In addition to being known as "William P. Hobby Airport", another name for HOU is "Houston Hobby".
• William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) has 4 runways.
• The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center serves as the airport's ARTCC.
• William P. Hobby Airport handled 9,054,001 passengers last year.
• Hobby Airport opened in 1927 as a private landing field in a 600-acre pasture known as W.T.
• The furthest airport from William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,002 miles (17,706 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Because of William P. Hobby Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at William P. Hobby 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.
• Airline flights resumed at Hobby in 1971.
• The closest airport to William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of HOU.
• In May 2011 Southwest Airlines expressed interest in international flights from Hobby.

Facts about Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN):

• The furthest airport from Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) is Barcelos Airport (BAZ), which is nearly antipodal to Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (meaning Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barcelos Airport), and is located 12,281 miles (19,764 kilometers) away in Barcelos, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Because of Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman 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 construction of Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport started in the Dutch colonial era before Indonesian independence.
• The closest airport to Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) is Bontang Airport (BXT), which is located 104 miles (168 kilometers) NNE of BPN.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport had been renovated twice from 1991 to 1997.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport is the 6th busiest airport in Indonesia and the busiest airport in Kalimantan and Borneo with 7.1 million passenger traffic in 2013.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport handled 5,680,961 passengers last year.
• Sultan Aji Muhamad Sulaiman Airport (BPN) currently has only 1 runway.