Nonstop flight route between Madrid, Spain and Gaborone, Botswana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), Madrid, Spain and Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE), Gaborone, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,876 miles (or 7,847 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] and Sir Seretse Khama 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] and Sir Seretse Khama 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD):

• In December 2010, the Spanish government announced plans to tender Madrid-Barajas airport to companies in the private sector for a period of up to 40 years.
• In addition to being known as "Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]", another name for MAD is "Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas".
• The closest airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ENE of MAD.
• The furthest airport from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (meaning Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid in Spain.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) has 4 runways.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] handled 39,729,027 passengers last year.
• In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations, 4,400 m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas.
• The Nuevos Ministerios metro station allowed checking-in right by the AZCA business area in central Madrid, but this convenience has been suspended indefinitely after the building of Terminal 4.
• The airport was constructed in 1927, opening to national and international air traffic on 22 April 1931, although regular commercial operations began two years later.
• In the 1970s, with the boom in tourism and the arrival of the Boeing 747, the airport reached 4 million passengers, and began the construction of the international terminal.

Facts about Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE):

• Construction on the airport expansion
• On October 11, 1999, an Air Botswana pilot, Captain Chris Phatswe, commandeered a parked Aérospatiale ATR 42 aircraft A2-ABB without authorization in the early morning and took off.
• The closest airport to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) SSW of GBE.
• Airport before expansion
• The furthest airport from Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (meaning Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) currently has only 1 runway.