Nonstop flight route between Oran, Algeria and Alotau, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN), Oran, Algeria and Gurney Airport (GUR), Alotau, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,912 miles (or 15,952 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 Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport and Gurney 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 Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport and Gurney 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 Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN):

• In addition to being known as "Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport", other names for ORN include "Es Sénia Airport (Ouahran)" and "مطار السانية وهران".
• The furthest airport from Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) is Whakatane Airport (WHK), which is nearly antipodal to Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (meaning Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whakatane Airport), and is located 12,228 miles (19,678 kilometers) away in Whakatane, New Zealand.
• Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) has 2 runways.
• Because of Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at Es-Sénia – Ben Bella 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.
• After its capture, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Twelfth Air Force as a combat airfield during the North African Campaign.
• The closest airport to Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) is Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of ORN.
• Once the combat units moved east to other airfields in Algeria and Tunisia during the late spring of 1943, the airfield came under the control of Air Transport Command, under which it functioned as a stopover en route to Algiers airport or to Port Lyautey Airfield, in French Morocco on the North African Cairo–Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.

Facts about Gurney Airport (GUR):

• Gurney Airport (GUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gurney Airport (GUR) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Because of Gurney Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Gurney 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 airport is a single runway general aviation facility, however in December, 2008, the PNG Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Don Polye announced that aviation company Skyworld had been granted permission to operate direct flights from Cairns, Australia to Gurney.
• The closest airport to Gurney Airport (GUR) is Vivigani Airport (VIV), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) N of GUR.