Nonstop flight route between Le Mars, Iowa, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ), Le Mars, Iowa, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,179 miles (or 11,554 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 Le Mars Municipal Airport and Kabul 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 Le Mars Municipal Airport and Kabul 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 Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ):

• The closest airport to Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ) is Orange City Municipal Airport (ORC), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NNE of LRJ.
• The furthest airport from Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,647 miles (17,134 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• With the closure of Camp Julien in Kabul in November 2005, most of the Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan were transferred to Kandahar province.
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy also had based a squadron of Harrier GR7A aircraft at Kandahar Airfield to provide close air support to coalition ground forces replacing USMC AV-8B's.
• Coalition presence increases
• Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR.
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.