Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, South Africa and Colón, Panama:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rand Airport (QRA), Johannesburg, South Africa and Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX), Colón, Panama would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,616 miles (or 12,256 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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):

• The recently upgraded fire station.
• The following navigational aids are installed for non precision instrument approaches at this airport.
• The foyer in the terminal building.
• Rand Airport (QRA) has 2 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.
• Today, the airport hosts air charter operators, flying schools and a number of aircraft maintenance organizations, as well as pilot shops, car hire and other aviation-related enterprises.
• In October 2000, the airport was privatized.
• 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.
• 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX):

• The furthest airport from Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (meaning Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,139 miles (19,536 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• During the early 1920s, France Field was expanded, as the defense of the Panama Canal was the major overseas concern of the Air Service.
• In 1994, this airport was the departure point for Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901, later downed by terrorists.
• Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) is Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport (PAC), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) SE of ONX.
• With the return of the Canal Zone to Panama on 1 October 1979, the airport was renamed for Enrique Adolfo Jiménez, who served as Panamanian president from 1945 to 1948.
• In addition to being known as "Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport", another name for ONX is "Aeropuerto Enrique Adolfo Jiménez".
• During World War II, the mission of the units at France Field consisted of the protection of the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, and to fly antisubmarine missions over the Caribbean
• With the entry of the United States into World War I, concern for the security of the canal saw the first airborne forces of the Army being sent to the Canal Zone.
• As Colon Airport, it was served by Boeing 307 Stratoliners and other early airliners flying Pan Am routes from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina via Havana, Cuba and Kingston, Jamaica into Cristobal and Colón, then continuing south via Lima, Peru, into Buenos Aires.
• Because of Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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.
• During the 1930s, France Field was modernized and the facilities upgraded over the decade and the number of assigned units increased as world tensions heightened.
• As a direct result of the lessons learned during World War I in France, the Air service reorganized its tactical elements in 1922.
• By 1930, the expanding Air Corps in the Canal Zone required a new organization.