Nonstop flight route between Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between City of Derry Airport (LDY), Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN), Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,143 miles (or 9,885 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 City of Derry Airport and Bloemfontein 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 City of Derry Airport and Bloemfontein 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 City of Derry Airport (LDY):

• In addition to being known as "City of Derry Airport", another name for LDY is "Londonderry/Eglinton Airport[1]".
• The furthest airport from City of Derry Airport (LDY) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,838 miles (19,051 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The Belfast to Derry single track railway line of Northern Ireland Railways passes close to but not across the tip of the runway at the North Eastern end.
• Because of City of Derry Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at City of Derry 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.
• On 9 October 2009, Derry City Council who own and operate the airport began the process which will lead to the privatisation of the facility.
• At the end of 2008, British Airways, operated by Loganair as a franchise agreement, ceased the Glasgow International route which had operated for 30 years, following the loss in July 2008 of their public service obligation route to Dublin.
• Aer Arann operated services to Manchester and Birmingham for a short time.
• The airport is to develop further Ryanair routes from the airport to European cities such as Barcelona, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan.
• City of Derry Airport (LDY) currently has only 1 runway.
• City of Derry Airport handled 384,973 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to City of Derry Airport (LDY) is Belfast International Airport (BFS), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) SE of LDY.

Facts about Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN):

• In November 2012, the South African government announced that the airport's name was to be changed to Bram Fischer International Airport.
• Because of Bloemfontein International Airport's high elevation of 4,457 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BFN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BFN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,855 miles (19,079 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Mafeteng Airport (MFC), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) SE of BFN.