Nonstop flight route between Portland, Oregon, United States and Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Portland International Airport (PDX), Portland, Oregon, United States and Goma Airport (GOM), Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,955 miles (or 14,411 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 Portland International Airport and Goma 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 Portland International Airport and Goma 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 Portland International Airport (PDX):

• Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S.
• Plans made in 1968 to add a third runway by means of filling in parts of the Columbia River were met with vocal public opposition and scrapped.
• Because of Portland International Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland International 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 closest airport to Portland International Airport (PDX) is Portland-Troutdale Airport (TTD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ESE of PDX.
• The furthest airport from Portland International Airport (PDX) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,903 miles (17,546 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces.
• In the 1980s Air California had nonstop flights to Seattle, Reno and the Bay Area.
• In 2013, a Travel+Leisure magazine readers' poll named PDX the best US airport, based on its on-time record, dining, shopping, and mass transportation into the city.
• Concourses A and B are given mostly to Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.
• Portland International Airport handled 1,502,956 passengers last year.
• Portland International Airport (PDX) has 3 runways.
• By the 1980s, the terminal building began an extensive renovation in order to update PDX to meet future needs.

Facts about Goma Airport (GOM):

• On 19 November 2009, Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Flight 3711, operated by McDonnell Douglas MD-82 9Q-CAB overran the runway on landing, suffering substantial damage.
• Because of Goma Airport's high elevation of 5,089 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GOM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GOM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• At 17:55 local time on 4 March 2013, a Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fokker 50 from Lodja crashed short of landing in heavy rain, into a residential area.
• The furthest airport from Goma Airport (GOM) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,981 miles (19,282 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Goma Airport (GOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Initially built with a paved 3 km runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2002 eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo, 14 km to the north.
• The closest airport to Goma Airport (GOM) is Gisenyi Airport (GYI), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of GOM.