Nonstop flight route between Manchester, United Kingdom and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Manchester Airport (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom and King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,073 miles (or 9,773 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 Manchester Airport and King Shaka International, 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 Manchester Airport and King Shaka International. 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 Manchester Airport (MAN):

• Manchester Airport handled 20,751,581 passengers last year.
• This is a plan to build cargo sheds and goods handling on 90 acres of farmland on the southwest side of the A538 road next to the southeast side of the M56 motorway, across the A538 from the present cargo terminal, near Junction 6 of the M56.
• North Africa is connected via Egyptair, Libyan Airlines and Easyjet.
• Caribbean services are mix of scheduled and charter services operated by Virgin Atlantic, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways to varied destinations including Cuba, Jamaica, Barbados, Dominican Republic and others.
• Because of Manchester Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Manchester 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 airport has over 50 airline customers operating a global network of scheduled, charter and freight services.
• The closest airport to Manchester Airport (MAN) is Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) W of MAN.
• During World War II it was the Royal Air Force's base RAF Ringway, and was important in military aircraft production and training parachutists.
• In the Summer of 2009, a £50 million redevelopment programme for Terminal 1 was completed.
• The furthest airport from Manchester Airport (MAN) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,824 miles (19,029 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Manchester Airport (MAN) has 2 runways.

Facts about King Shaka International (DUR):

• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of King Shaka International's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at King Shaka International 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.
• Construction of the airport commenced on 24 August 2007, immediately after the approval of the EIA.
• The cargo terminal is located to the north of the passenger terminal, and is in the approximate centre of the airport precinct.
• The closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• The furthest airport from King Shaka International (DUR) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,682 miles (18,801 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Despite wide expectations that the airport would be named "King Shaka International Airport", it emerged in October 2009 that the airport needed to undergo a formal naming process.