Nonstop flight route between Manzini, Swaziland and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Matsapha Airport (MTS), Manzini, Swaziland and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,254 miles (or 5,237 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 Matsapha Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Matsapha Airport and RAF Ascension. 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 Matsapha Airport (MTS):

• Matsapha Airport (MTS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Matsapha Airport (MTS) is Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) N of MTS.
• The furthest airport from Matsapha Airport (MTS) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• Wideawake Airfield was a US installation built in 1943 by arrangement with the British government.
• In 1939 Ascension became important as a HF/DF radio station covering trade routes.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• The RAF presence on Ascension is backed up by United States Air Force personnel, who contribute a similar number of service personnel to ensure the effective running of the station, under the command of Captain Eduard Rodriguez, who is responsible to the RAF Station Commander.