Nonstop flight route between Leiden, Netherlands and Cape Town, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID), Leiden, Netherlands and Cape Town International Airport (CPT), Cape Town, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,013 miles (or 9,677 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 Valkenburg Naval Air Base and Cape Town 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 Valkenburg Naval Air Base and Cape Town 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 Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID):

• Because of Valkenburg Naval Air Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Valkenburg Naval Air Base 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.
• Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• A Zeppelin NT at Valkenburg
• The closest airport to Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID) is Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM), which is located only 15 miles (23 kilometers) S of LID.
• After the war it briefly served as a home for the Royal Netherlands Air Force air transport wing, but in 1947 the Navy received control of the air base.
• In addition to being known as "Valkenburg Naval Air Base", another name for LID is "Vliegkamp Valkenburg".

Facts about Cape Town International Airport (CPT):

• The airport provides approximately 1,424 parking bays in the general parking area, and 1,748 parking bays in the multi-storey parkade located near the domestic terminal.
• Retail outlets are located on the lower level of the terminal at landside, as well as airside at the departure gates.
• With the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s, ownership of the airport was transferred from the state to the newly formed Airports Company South Africa, and the airport was renamed to the politically neutral Cape Town International Airport.
• Cape Town International Airport (CPT) has 2 runways.
• Cape Town International Airport was opened in 1954, a year after Jan Smuts Airport on the Witwatersrand opened.
• Apart from completion of the 2010 expansion project, it has been proposed that a second runway for large aircraft be constructed at Cape Town International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,616 miles (18,693 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Cape Town International Airport recorded 7.8 million passengers in 2008–2009, down from 8.4 million passengers the year before.
• Cape Town International Airport handled 8,505,563 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 217 miles (349 kilometers) E of CPT.
• Because of Cape Town International Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Town 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.