Nonstop flight route between Mafeteng, Lesotho and Jacksonville, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mafeteng Airport (MFC), Mafeteng, Lesotho and NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,261 miles (or 13,295 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 NAS Jacksonville, 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 NAS Jacksonville. 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 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.
• Mafeteng Airport (MFC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NE of MFC.

Facts about NAS Jacksonville (NIP):

• In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
• NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
• During the late 1940s, the jet age was dawning and in 1948 the Navy’s first jet carrier air groups and squadrons came to NAS Jacksonville.
• The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• With the BRAC-directed closure of NAS Brunswick, Maine by mid-2011, Patrol Squadron EIGHT, Patrol Squadron TEN, Patrol Squadron TWENTY-SIX, Special Projects Patrol Squadron ONE and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron SIXTY-TWO began relocating to NAS Jacksonville in 2007 with their P-3C and C-130T aircraft, with all of these squadrons in place at NAS Jacksonville by late 2010.
• In 1963 M-114 became a joint-use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration.
• The closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
• Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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.
• A piece of history and Navy and Marine Corps tradition was lost in 1986 when the last unit of Marines left NAS Jacksonville.
• In March 1959, Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami, along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.