Nonstop flight route between New York City, New York, United States and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York City, New York, United States and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,575 miles (or 13,800 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 LaGuardia Airport and Buka Island 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 LaGuardia Airport and Buka Island 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 LaGuardia Airport (LGA):

• In late 2006, construction began to replace the air traffic control tower built in 1962 with a more modern one.
• Because of LaGuardia Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at LaGuardia 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 April 2010, Port Authority director Christopher Ward announced that the agency had hired consultants to explore a full demolition and rebuilding of LaGuardia's Central Terminal.
• The closest airport to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is Flushing Airport (closed 1984) (FLU), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) E of LGA.
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA) has 2 runways.
• On August 12, 2009, Delta Air Lines and US Airways announced a landing slot and terminal swap in separate press releases.
• Newspaper accounts alternately referred to the airfield as New York Municipal Airport and LaGuardia Field until the modern name was officially applied when the airport moved to Port of New York Authority control under a lease with New York City on June 1, 1947.
• The New York City metropolitan area's JFK International, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty International airports combine to create the largest airport system in the United States, second in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and first in the world in terms of total flight operations.
• The furthest airport from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,754 miles (18,917 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• American Airlines accepted La Guardia's offer to start a pilot program of scheduled flights to Floyd Bennett, although the program failed after several months because of Newark's better proximity to Manhattan.
• Delta will invest $100 million to renovate terminals C and D in LaGuardia, where it will operate a total of 32 gates.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• Today the airport is the primary air portal into Bougainville, and even 60 years after the war, wreckage from the military use of the airfield by the Japanese and Americans is easily found in the area.
• In January 1944, the Allies drove the Japanese out of Buka, and the airfield was used for operations against the Japanese over New Guinea.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 26 July, an Imperial Japanese Navy special detachment was sent to inspect Buka Airfield, but considered it unacceptable as a prospect for a speedily constructed major airfield.
• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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 Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• The origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.