Nonstop flight route between Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan and Luganville, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kumamoto Airport (KMJ), Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,114 miles (or 6,620 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 Kumamoto Airport and Santo-Pekoa 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 Kumamoto Airport and Santo-Pekoa 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 Kumamoto Airport (KMJ):

• In addition to being known as "Kumamoto Airport", other names for KMJ include "熊本空港" and "Kumamoto Kūkō".
• Because of Kumamoto Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumamoto 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.
• Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The first Kumamoto Airport opened in 1960 on the site of a former Imperial Japanese Army air base and had a 1,200 m runway.
• The closest airport to Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of KMJ.
• The furthest airport from Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kumamoto Airport (meaning Kumamoto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.

Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
• The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the Guadalcanal Campaign.
• Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa 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.
• The Thirteenth Air Force was based at Pekoa from 13 January 1943 until 20 January 1944 when it moved to Carney Airfield on Guadalcanal.