Nonstop flight route between Simikot, Nepal and Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Simikot Airport (IMK), Simikot, Nepal and Kobe Airport (UKB), Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,099 miles (or 4,988 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 Simikot Airport and Kobe 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 Simikot Airport and Kobe 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 Simikot Airport (IMK):

• The closest airport to Simikot Airport (IMK) is Bajura Airport (BJU), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) SSW of IMK.
• The furthest airport from Simikot Airport (IMK) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,728 miles (18,874 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Pilgrims and Trekkers bound for Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash in China's Tibet Autonomous Region fly into Simikot and proceed to the international border at Hilsa on foot or by helicopter.
• Because of Simikot Airport's high elevation of 9,246 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at IMK. Combined with a high temperature, this could make IMK a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Kobe Airport (UKB):

• Kobe Airport (UKB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kobe Airport (UKB) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of UKB.
• The construction of the airport was stalled for lack of funding until 1995, when it won national government support as a means for recovering the Kobe economy in the wake of the great Hanshin earthquake.
• Kobe businesses were still interested in the plan, however, and pressed the city government to propose a smaller facility with one 3,000 m runway.
• On February 2, 2006, Kobe Airport Station was connected to Sannomiya Station in central Kobe by an extension of the existing Port Liner automated guideway transit system, using 2000 series trains as well as some older 8000 series trains.
• Because of Kobe Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobe 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.
• As part of its bankruptcy restructuring, JAL terminated all services out of Kobe and closed its office on June 1, 2010, in response to which Skymark Airlines announced a major expansion at the airport.
• In 2013, Kobe mayor Tatsuo Yada endorsed a proposal to consolidate the management of the three Kansai region airports by adding Kobe Airport to the planned sale in 2014 of operating concessions at Itami and Kansai, although the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this to be unlikely given the advanced state of negotiations surrounding the concessions.
• The furthest airport from Kobe Airport (UKB) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Kobe Airport", other names for UKB include "神戸空港" and "Kōbe Kūkō".