Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Kita Kyūshū, Kyūshū, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Kokura Airport (KKJ), Kita Kyūshū, Kyūshū, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,636 miles (or 12,289 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Kokura 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Kokura 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and Fly2PIE in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.
• Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941.
• The closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater 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.
• This historic event marked the beginning of commercial air transportation anywhere in the world and is commemorated by a replica of the Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area.
• With the advent of the Jet age, the airport's runway was extended northward into Tampa Bay and the first commercial jet service to PIE was operated by Northwest.
• The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Kokura Airport (KKJ):

• In addition to being known as "Kokura Airport", other names for KKJ include "小倉空港" and "Kokura Kūkō".
• Because of Kokura Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Kokura 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 Kokura Airport (KKJ) is Yamaguchi Ube Airport (UBJ), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ENE of KKJ.
• Kokura Airport (KKJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kokura Airport (KKJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kokura Airport (meaning Kokura Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,220 miles (19,665 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.