Nonstop flight route between Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia and Biloxi, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mbala Airport (MMQ), Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia and Keesler Air Force Base (BIX), Biloxi, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,325 miles (or 13,397 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 Mbala Airport and Keesler 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 Mbala Airport and Keesler 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 Mbala Airport (MMQ):

• The closest airport to Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Kasaba Bay Airport (ZKB), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) WNW of MMQ.
• Mbala Airport (MMQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mbala Airport's high elevation of 5,454 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MMQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MMQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,674 miles (18,788 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Keesler Air Force Base (BIX):

• In late May 1947, the Radar School arrived on Keesler making it responsible for operating the two largest military technical schools in the United States.
• The furthest airport from Keesler Air Force Base (BIX) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,125 miles (17,904 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In early January 1941, Biloxi city officials assembled a formal offer to invite the United States Army to build a base to support the World War II training buildup.
• When the War Department activated Keesler Field in June 1941, not only was Keesler getting a technical training center, but it would be getting one of the Army's newest replacement, or basic training centers.
• The Tuskegee Airmen were trained at Keesler.
• In addition to being known as "Keesler Air Force Base", another name for BIX is "Keesler AFB".
• The 81 TW is responsible for the technical training of airmen in select skill areas immediately following their completion of basic training as well as providing additional or recurrent training they will need for upcoming assignments.
• During the early 1980s Keesler's air traffic control program garnered publicity - when the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization walked off the job in August 1981.
• The closest airport to Keesler Air Force Base (BIX) is Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport (GPT), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of BIX.
• On August 29, 2005 Keesler sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, which made its third Gulf Coast landfall as a Category 3 storm approximately 30 miles west.
• Other organizations assigned to Keesler AFB include the 45th Airlift Squadron, a geographically separated unit of the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.