Nonstop flight route between Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway and Oran, Algeria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway and Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF), Oran, Algeria would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,623 miles (or 4,221 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 Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen and Oran Tafaraoui 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 Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen and Oran Tafaraoui 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 Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN):

• Because of Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen's relatively low elevation of 282 feet, planes can take off or land at Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen 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 closest airport to Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) is Vadsø Airport (VDS), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) N of KKN.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is located at Høybuktmoen in Sør-Varanger, about 15 kilometers west of Kirkenes.
• The furthest airport from Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,424 miles (16,775 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen handled 297,149 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen", another name for KKN is "Kirkenes lufthavn, Høybuktmoen".
• Planning for a new airport at Høybunktmoen was initiated by a committee established by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 1947, and resulted in the National Plan of 1952.
• Arctic Air took over Widerøe's flights to Vardø in 2000, using a 19-passenger Dornier Do 228.
• The route had doubled its patronage since its introduction by 1953—the last year it was operated by DNL.
• Varangfly merged with two other airlines in 1970 to create the Kirkenes-based Norving.
• Høybuktmoen was built as a military air station by the Luftwaffe during World War II.
• The first aircraft to land in Sør-Varanger was part of a trial undertaken in 1922 by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to test the flight time from Horten to Kirkenes.
• Instead, in 1940 the German occupation of Norway terminated all civilian aviation until 1945.

Facts about Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF):

• During World War II, it was a primary mission objective of the United States Army 34th Infantry Division during the Allied Operation Torch landings on 8 November 1942, and became a major Twelfth Air Force base of operations during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps.
• Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF) is Whakatane Airport (WHK), which is nearly antipodal to Oran Tafaraoui Airport (meaning Oran Tafaraoui Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whakatane Airport), and is located 12,220 miles (19,666 kilometers) away in Whakatane, New Zealand.
• Because of Oran Tafaraoui Airport's relatively low elevation of 367 feet, planes can take off or land at Oran Tafaraoui 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 closest airport to Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF) is Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NW of TAF.
• The new desert Spitfires of the 31st Fighter Group were also assigned to Tafaraoui.