Nonstop flight route between Los Angeles, California, United States and Butterworth, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, California, United States and RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,719 miles (or 14,031 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 Los Angeles International Airport and RMAF Butterworth, 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 Los Angeles International Airport and RMAF Butterworth. 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 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX):

• Starting in the mid-1990s, under Mayors Richard Riordan and James Hahn, modernization and expansion plans for LAX were prepared, only to be stymied by a coalition of residents who live near the airport.
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) ESE of LAX.
• In addition to these terminals, there are 2,000,000 square feet of cargo facilities at LAX, and a heliport operated by Bravo Aviation.
• The furthest airport from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,487 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Los Angeles International Airport handled 66,667,619 passengers last year.
• In 2012, LAX was the sixth busiest airport in the world by passenger volume with 63,688,121 passengers, an increase of 3% from 2011.
• Before the 1930s, existing airports used a two-letter abbreviation based on the weather stations at the airports.
• Because of Los Angeles International Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Los Angeles 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.
• In 2000, before Los Angeles hosted the Democratic National Convention, fifteen glass pylons up to ten stories high were placed in a circle around the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Century Boulevard, with more pylons of decreasing height following Century Boulevard eastward, evoking a sense of departure and arrival.
• American Airlines' 707-123s flew the first jet passengers out of LAX to New York in January 1959.

Facts about RMAF Butterworth (UTE):

• Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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.
• In 1957, the RAF closed the station and it was transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and it was promptly renamed as RAAF Station Butterworth, becoming the home to numerous Australian fighter and bomber squadrons stationed in Malaya during the Cold War era.
• The furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
• In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", other names for UTE include "TUDM Butterworth", "BWH" and "WMKB".
• The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is RMAF Butterworth (BWH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of UTE.
• RAF Butterworth was officially opened in October 1941, as a Royal Air Force station which was a part of the British defence plan for defending the Malayan Peninsula against an imminent threat of invasion by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II.
• RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.