Nonstop flight route between Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Diomede, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Richards Bay Airport (RCB), Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO), Diomede, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,725 miles (or 15,651 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 Richards Bay Airport and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2), 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 Richards Bay Airport and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2). 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 Richards Bay Airport (RCB):

• Because of Richards Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 109 feet, planes can take off or land at Richards Bay 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.
• Richards Bay Airport (RCB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Richards Bay Airport (RCB) is Hluhluwe Airport (HLW), which is located 52 miles (83 kilometers) NNE of RCB.
• The furthest airport from Richards Bay Airport (RCB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,689 miles (18,812 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO):

• Diomede is a city in the Nome Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S.
• In the early 1940s, one of the Little Diomede villagers wrote "No airplane comes to Diomede except for some very special reason, during the winter.
• Because of Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2)'s relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) 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 Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,411 miles (16,755 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Water for winter use is drawn from a mountain spring, then treated and stored in 434,000-U.S.-gallon storage tanks.
• The Little Diomede island is composed of Cretaceous age granite or quartz monzonite.
• At the beginning of the Cold War in the late 1940s Big Diomede became a Russian military base and all its native residents were removed to mainland Russia.
• There were 43 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.9% were married couples living together, 32.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families.
• The closest airport to Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Wales Airport (WAA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DIO.