Nonstop flight route between Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States and Kandahar, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR), Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,716 miles (or 12,418 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR):

• Fort Rucker is the Home of Army Aviation, where all of the Army's Aviators as well as many international and civilian personnel begin their rotary-wing flight training.
• In 2012 the controllers handled 245,000 aircraft movements without incident.
• The closest airport to Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Lowe Army Heliport (AHP) (LOR), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NNW of OZR.
• Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) has 2 runways.
• Because of Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)'s relatively low elevation of 301 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)", other names for OZR include "Cairns Army Airfield" and "Fort Rucker".
• The Aviation Training Brigade consists of five battalions that conduct flight training at Fort Rucker at three training sites.
• The furthest airport from Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,214 miles (18,047 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):

• During Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, Kandahar Airport was one of the first coalition bases established in Afghanistan.
• 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.
• Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense.
• The airfield itself was built between 1956 and 1962 by American consultants, for a cost of USD 15 million.
• Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Reconstruction and Canadian deployments
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
• 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.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.