Nonstop flight route between Medan, Indonesia and East London, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kualanamu International Airport (KNO), Medan, Indonesia and East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,271 miles (or 8,482 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 Kualanamu International Airport and East London 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 Kualanamu International Airport and East London 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 Kualanamu International Airport (KNO):

• All preparation of construction started in 1997, but the Asian Financial Crisis that began in the same year forced the development plans to be postponed.
• The airport is Indonesia's second largest, after Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, with a 224,298 m² passengers terminal and will eventually have a capacity of 50 million passengers, a figure if realised today would place the airport in the top 10 busiest by passenger numbers in the world, although by the time this figure is achieved it is likely that there will be many airports carrying more passengers.
• The airport is the first in Indonesia with a publicly accessible check-in area.
• In addition to being known as "Kualanamu International Airport", other names for KNO include "Kualanamu International Airport (Medan)" and "Bandar Udara Internasional Kualanamu".
• Taxi costs about twice that of train tickets.
• Kualanamu International Airport (KNO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The first airline uses the airport as a regional hub is Mihin Lanka which route from Jakarta to Jeddah with transit at the airport.
• Because of Kualanamu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Kualanamu 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 closest airport to Kualanamu International Airport (KNO) is Polonia International Airport (MES), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) WSW of KNO.
• The furthest airport from Kualanamu International Airport (KNO) is Cap. FAP Pedro Canga Rodríguez Airport (TBP), which is nearly antipodal to Kualanamu International Airport (meaning Kualanamu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Pedro Canga Rodríguez Airport), and is located 12,385 miles (19,931 kilometers) away in Tumbes, Peru.
• In May 2014 a groundbreaking to make double-track from Medan to the Airport has been done and it will cut time travel at least 10 minutes from current situation when it is ready in 2017.

Facts about East London Airport (ELS):

• The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.
• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.
• In 1944 a new airport was built at Collondale, about 2 km west of the present terminal building.
• The furthest airport from East London Airport (ELS) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,569 miles (18,618 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• In 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site, 9 km west of the city centre.
• East London Airport is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa.
• Because of East London Airport's relatively low elevation of 436 feet, planes can take off or land at East London 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 East London Airport (ELS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WSW of ELS.
• East London Airport resides at an elevation of 435 feet above mean sea level.