Nonstop flight route between Lisbon, Portugal and East London, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS), Lisbon, Portugal and East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,498 miles (or 8,849 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 Lisbon Portela 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 Lisbon Portela 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 Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS):

• Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) has 2 runways.
• At the end of the war the airport developed quickly and by 1946 was used by major airlines like Air France, British European Airways, Iberia, KLM, Sabena, Pan Am and Trans World Airlines and by 1954 the number of passengers had reached 100,000.
• In addition to being known as "Lisbon Portela Airport", another name for LIS is "Aeroporto da Portela".
• The closest airport to Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) is Beja Airport (BYJ), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) SE of LIS.
• Carris city buses stop just outside Terminal 1 arrivals, with bus route 783 connecting to Marquis of Pombal Square, and Amoreiras and night route 208 to downtown Baixa and Cais do Sodré train station and to Gare do Oriente train station.
• The furthest airport from Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS) is New Plymouth Airport (NPL), which is nearly antipodal to Lisbon Portela Airport (meaning Lisbon Portela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from New Plymouth Airport), and is located 12,258 miles (19,727 kilometers) away in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
• Because of Lisbon Portela Airport's relatively low elevation of 374 feet, planes can take off or land at Lisbon Portela 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.
• Lisbon Portela Airport handled 16,024,955 passengers last year.
• With the long-term concession of ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal to the French group Vinci Airports the project for a new airport was postponed in July 2013, and it was decided that the existing Lisbon Airport would be further upgraded to surpass 20 million passengers annually, and would remain the present solution for this major European gateway.

Facts about East London Airport (ELS):

• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.
• The airport was renamed in 1994.
• 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 (ELS) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.