Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, South Africa and Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rand Airport (QRA), Johannesburg, South Africa and Huntsville International Airport (HSV), Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,583 miles (or 13,812 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 Rand Airport and Huntsville 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 Rand Airport and Huntsville 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 Rand Airport (QRA):

• South African Airways donated two Boeing 747s to the "South African Airways Museum Society" which are on display at the airport.
• Rand Airport is notorious for its hot and high conditions and relatively short runways.
• The furthest airport from Rand Airport (QRA) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,977 miles (19,275 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Rand Airport (QRA) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NE of QRA.
• The recently upgraded fire station.
• Rand Airport (QRA) has 2 runways.
• The airport was officially opened on 21 December 1931 owned jointly by the Germiston City Council, the Rand Gold Refinery and Elandsfontein Estates.
• SAA moved its headquarters to Palmietfontein Airport in 1948 because of runway length constraints.
• Rand Airport is a popular location for filmmaking for both the local and international film industries.
• Because of Rand Airport's high elevation of 5,482 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at QRA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make QRA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Huntsville International Airport (HSV):

• In addition to being known as "Huntsville International Airport", another name for HSV is "Carl T. Jones Field".
• United Airlines also recognized the importance of Huntsville to the NASA space program and started nonstop Boeing 727-100s to Los Angeles in 1969.
• In November 1967 Eastern scheduled nine departures each weekday from the then new airport while United had four and Southern operated 17.
• Huntsville International Airport is a public airport ten miles southwest of downtown Huntsville, in Madison County, Alabama, United States.
• From 1969 to 1980 Huntsville had nonstop or direct jet flights to Los Angeles as well as to Florida and Texas during the U.S.
• Huntsville International Airport (HSV) has 2 runways.
• The airport's "Fly Huntsville" jingle encourages passengers to depart from Huntsville instead of driving to Birmingham or Nashville.
• Because of Huntsville International Airport's relatively low elevation of 629 feet, planes can take off or land at Huntsville 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 Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,189 miles (18,008 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Redstone Army Airfield (AAF) (HUA), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of HSV.