Nonstop flight route between Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mt. Vernon Airport (MVN), Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,345 miles (or 11,820 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 Mt. Vernon Airport and Kabul 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 Mt. Vernon Airport and Kabul 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 Mt. Vernon Airport (MVN):

• The closest airport to Mt. Vernon Airport (MVN) is Salem–Leckrone Airport (SLO), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NNW of MVN.
• Because of Mt. Vernon Airport's relatively low elevation of 480 feet, planes can take off or land at Mt. Vernon 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.
• The furthest airport from Mt. Vernon Airport (MVN) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,070 miles (17,815 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Mt. Vernon Airport (MVN) has 2 runways.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was built in the 1960s by the United States.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
• The Afghan government has been slow in rebuilding the facility, the vast majority of it has been reclaimed from years of neglect and damage by Soviet and Taliban soldiers.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons - including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets - scattered around the terminal.
• The 2009 surge in NATO operations in southern Afghanistan pushed the number of aircraft operations at the base from 1,700 to 5,000 flights a week.
• Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".