Nonstop flight route between Mfuwe, Eastern Province, Zambia and Tripoli, Libya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mfuwe Airport (MFU), Mfuwe, Eastern Province, Zambia and Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,419 miles (or 5,502 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 Mfuwe Airport and Mitiga 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 Mfuwe Airport and Mitiga 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 Mfuwe Airport (MFU):

• The closest airport to Mfuwe Airport (MFU) is Chipata Airport (CIP), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) ESE of MFU.
• The furthest airport from Mfuwe Airport (MFU) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,794 miles (18,981 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Mfuwe Airport (MFU) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Mitiga International Airport (MJI):

• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• The 48 TFW had practiced for years at Wheelus with F-100s and later at Zaragoza AB Spain with F-4D Phantoms and the F-111s for just such a mission.
• The furthest airport from Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Rarotonga International Airport (RAR), which is located 11,524 miles (18,546 kilometers) away in Avarua, Cook Islands.
• After the USAF left, Wheelus became a Libyan People's Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• Because of Mitiga International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Mitiga International 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.
• Operation El Dorado Canyon included eighteen 48 TFW F-111F "Aardvark" fighter-bombers, five EF-111A "Sparkvarks" from the 66th Electronic Combat Wing/42nd Electronic Combat Squadron at RAF Upper Heyford, UK, and carrier-based US Navy F-14 Tomcats and A-6E Intruders.
• During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the The Times and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protestors opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
• The closest airport to Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Tripoli International Airport (TIP), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MJI.
• Alitalia and Turkish Airlines also moved back to Tripoli International after it reopened.
• LPAF Soviet-made MiG-17/19/25 fighters and Tu-22 bombers were based at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".
• The fourteen-hour 9,300-kilometre round trip to Libya required numerous in-air refuelings, because countries closer to Libya – Spain, Italy, France, and Greece – had refused American planes permission to fly over or from bases in their countries.