Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Itami (near Osaka), Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas, United States and Osaka International Airport (ITM), Itami (near Osaka), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,873 miles (or 11,062 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 George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Osaka 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 George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Osaka 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 George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH):

• The closest airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of IAH.
• Because of George Bush Intercontinental Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at George Bush Intercontinental 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.
• Terminal A was one of the original two terminals to open in 1969 and was designed by Goleman & Rolfe and George Pierce-Abel B.
• Terminal D has 12 gates and several international lounges, including two separate British Airways Galleries Lounges, a Lufthansa Senator, a KLM Crown, an Air France, and an Executive Lounge for Singapore, Emirates, Qatar, and Lufthansa.
• The site for Bush Intercontinental Airport was originally purchased by a group of Houston businessmen in 1957 to preserve the site until the city of Houston could formulate a plan for a second airport, supplanting what was then known as Houston Municipal Airport.
• As of 2007, Terminals A and B remain from the original design of the airport.
• The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, located on the airport grounds at 16600 JFK Boulevard, serves as the region's ARTCC.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport handled 40,128,953 passengers last year.
• On June 19, 2014, Emirates Airlines announced that it would become the second operator of the Airbus A380 at Intercontinental Airport, upgrading its service from Dubai to Houston from Boeing 777 to the "Super Jumbo" A380.
• In addition to being known as "George Bush Intercontinental Airport", another name for IAH is "Houston-Intercontinental".
• The furthest airport from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,981 miles (17,672 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has 5 runways.
• In 2011 Continental Airlines began service to Lagos.

Facts about Osaka International Airport (ITM):

• The furthest airport from Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Itami Airport has a single terminal building with 21 gates, divided into a "North Terminal" for JAL and Amakusa and "South Terminal" for ANA and IBEX.
• Osaka International Airport (ITM) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Osaka International Airport (OSA), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ITM.
• The policy of the Japanese government has been to limit operations at Itami in order to spur development at Kansai and Kobe.
• In its heyday Itami was served by a variety of major international carriers, including Pan Am, British Airways, Air India, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air.
• Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka 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 "Osaka International Airport", other names for ITM include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港" and "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō".
• In May 1968, a group of local citizens decided to sue the government for damages related to noise pollution from Itami Airport.