Nonstop flight route between Pau, France and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF), Pau, France and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,606 miles (or 10,631 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 Pau Pyrénées Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Pau Pyrénées Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF):

• Because of Pau Pyrénées Airport's relatively low elevation of 616 feet, planes can take off or land at Pau Pyrénées 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 Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Pau Pyrénées Airport (meaning Pau Pyrénées Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,236 miles (19,692 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Pau Pyrénées Airport", another name for PUF is "Aéroport Pau Pyrénées".
• Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF) is Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) ESE of PUF.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (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.
• During the 1968 Pueblo crisis, the 18th deployed between January and June to Osan Air Base, South Korea following the North Korean seizure of the vessel.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• 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.
• At the end of the Eisenhower presidency, around 1,700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific, 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".