Nonstop flight route between Paro, Bhutan and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Paro International Airport (PBH), Paro, Bhutan and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,355 miles (or 3,790 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 relatively short distance between Paro International Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Paro International Airport (PBH):

• Paro International Airport (PBH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Paro International Airport (PBH) is Cooch Behar Airport (COH), which is located 65 miles (104 kilometers) SSE of PBH.
• In 2002, the airport handled 37,200 passengers and 91,000 tonnes of cargo.
• With surrounding peaks as high as 18,000 ft it is considered one of the world's most challenging airports, and as of October 2009, only eight pilots in the world are certified to land at the airport.
• The furthest airport from Paro International Airport (PBH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,281 miles (18,155 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Paro International Airport's high elevation of 7,300 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PBH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PBH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Druk Air is the national flag carrier airline of Bhutan and has its base at Paro Airport.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• Twentieth Air Force was inactivated in March 1955.
• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• Beginning in 1961, the 18th was sending its tactical squadrons frequently to South Vietnam and Thailand, initially with its RF-101 reconnaissance forces, and beginning in 1964 with its tactical fighter forces supporting USAF combat missions in the Vietnam War.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• Kadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
• Kadena Air Base's history dates back to just before the 1 April 1945, Battle of Okinawa, when a local construction firm completed a small airfield named Yara Hikojo near the island's village of Kadena.
• In June 2013, the government of Japan discovered 22 barrels buried on former base property that tests showed had previously contained dioxins and herbicides.
• The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa.
• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB.