Nonstop flight route between Mafeteng, Lesotho and Minot, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mafeteng Airport (MFC), Mafeteng, Lesotho and Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,464 miles (or 15,231 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 Mafeteng Airport and Minot Air Force Base, 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 Mafeteng Airport and Minot Air Force Base. 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 Mafeteng Airport (MFC):

• The closest airport to Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NE of MFC.
• Mafeteng Airport (MFC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,788 miles (18,971 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Mafeteng Airport's high elevation of 5,350 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MFC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MFC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• The ADC 32d Fighter Group was the first operational unit at Minot, with its 433d Fighter-Interceptor squadron.
• The 91st Operations Group is the operational backbone of the 91st Missile Wing, with its mission to defend the United States with safe and secure Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles – ready to immediately put bombs on target.
• The 4th Post Attack Command & Control Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD maintained several EC-135 "Looking Glass" Aircraft on an alert at MAFB for coverage of the missile squadrons as a secondary Launch Control Center.
• Additionally on 12 July 2008, three Air Force officers fell asleep while in control of an electronic component that contained old launch codes for nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, a violation of procedure, Air Force officials said.
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.
• The scope of operations grew as the Air Force transferred the 525th Bombardment Squadron from the 19th Bombardment Wing at Homestead AFB, Florida, on 8 March 1961, followed by the first B-52H Stratofortress on 10 July 1961, nicknamed "Peace Persuader".