Nonstop flight route between Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Osaka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Kansai International Airport (KIX), Osaka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,504 miles (or 13,685 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport and Kansai 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport and Kansai 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ):

• A highlight in Port Elizabeth's history was the first flight to Port Elizabeth from Cape Town in 1917, made by Major Allister Mackintosh Miller.
• The closest airport to Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 79 miles (127 kilometers) ENE of PLZ.
• Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) has 2 runways.
• Because of Port Elizabeth International Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Elizabeth 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 furthest airport from Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,567 miles (18,615 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• During World War II, the airfield was extended to accommodate 42 Air School for the Royal Air Force and 6 Squadron South African Air Force on the southern and eastern sides of the field.
• These facilities served the community till 2000 when plans for a major terminal upgrade was drawn-up.
• Air Force Station Port Elizabeth is home to C Flight of 15 Squadron of the South African Air Force.

Facts about Kansai International Airport (KIX):

• The second runway opened on 2 August 2007, but with the originally planned terminal portion postponed.
• The closest airport to Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Kobe Airport (UKB), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) N of KIX.
• The main KIX passenger Terminal l is a single four-story building designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and has a gross floor space of 296,043 square metres.
• In the 1960s, when the Kansai region was rapidly losing trade to Tokyo, planners proposed a new airport near Kobe and Osaka.
• Kansai International Airport (KIX) has 2 runways.
• Because of Kansai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Kansai 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 furthest airport from Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,980 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• On 17 January 1995, Japan was struck by the Kobe earthquake, whose epicenter was about 20 km away from KIX and killed 6,434 people on Japan's main island of Honshū.
• In addition to being known as "Kansai International Airport", other names for KIX include "関西国際空港" and "Kansai Kokusai Kūkō".