Nonstop flight route between Kandahar, Afghanistan and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,586 miles (or 5,772 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 Kabul International Airport and RAF Benson, 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 Kabul International Airport and RAF Benson. 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 Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Reconstruction and Canadian deployments
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Coalition presence increases
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• With the closure of Camp Julien in Kabul in November 2005, most of the Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan were transferred to Kandahar province.
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No.
• The station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station near Benson in South Oxfordshire, England.