Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Rurutu, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas, United States and Rurutu Airport (RUR), Rurutu, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,191 miles (or 8,353 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 Rurutu 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 Rurutu 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 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.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport served 40,187,442 passengers in 2011 making the airport the tenth busiest for total passengers in North America.
• 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.
• 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.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport handled 40,128,953 passengers last year.
• On August 28, 1990, Continental Airlines agreed to build its maintenance center at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
• The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, located on the airport grounds at 16600 JFK Boulevard, serves as the region's ARTCC.
• In addition to being known as "George Bush Intercontinental Airport", another name for IAH is "Houston-Intercontinental".
• 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.
• The IAB, equipped with a Federal Inspection Facility and US Customs services, consolidated all international arrivals into one terminal.
• On March 31, 2014, Scandinavian Airlines announced that it will begin flights from Stavanger to Houston.

Facts about Rurutu Airport (RUR):

• Rurutu Airport (RUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT), which is located 356 miles (572 kilometers) NNE of RUR.
• Because of Rurutu Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Rurutu 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 furthest airport from Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Sharq Al-Owainat Airport (GSQ), which is nearly antipodal to Rurutu Airport (meaning Rurutu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sharq Al-Owainat Airport), and is located 12,425 miles (19,996 kilometers) away in Sharq Al-Owainat, Egypt.