Nonstop flight route between Lifuka, Ha'apai, Tonga and Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lifuka Island Airport (HPA), Lifuka, Ha'apai, Tonga and Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,286 miles (or 11,725 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 Lifuka Island Airport and Pope Field, 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 Lifuka Island Airport and Pope Field. 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 Lifuka Island Airport (HPA):

• The furthest airport from Lifuka Island Airport (HPA) is In Guezzam Airport (INF), which is nearly antipodal to Lifuka Island Airport (meaning Lifuka Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from In Guezzam Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,989 kilometers) away in In Guezzam, Algeria.
• The closest airport to Lifuka Island Airport (HPA) is Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) SSW of HPA.
• In addition to being known as "Lifuka Island Airport", another name for HPA is "Salote Pilolevu Airport".
• Because of Lifuka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Lifuka Island 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.
• Lifuka Island Airport (HPA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Pope Field (POB):

• After the war, Pope Field became Pope Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 18 September 1947.
• On September 21, 1954, Ninth AF turned Pope over to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing which transferred from Lawson AFB, Georgia.
• In August 1971, the 464th inactivated and the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing administratively moved to Pope AFB from Lockbourne AFB, Ohio.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• The United States Air Force 43d Airlift Group was activated at Pope on March 1, 2011.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In April 1992, A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft were transferred to the 75th Fighter Squadron from the 353d FS / 354th FW at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina prior to the wing's inactivation and the base's closure in January 1993.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• The 10th TRG was inactivated on April 1, 1949 and the host unit at Pope was the 4415th Air Base Group.