Nonstop flight route between Universal City, Texas, United States and Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND), Universal City, Texas, United States and Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE), Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,393 miles (or 11,898 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 Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Kieta/Aropa 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 Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Kieta/Aropa 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 Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND):

• The furthest airport from Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Although barely half-completed, Randolph Field was dedicated 20 June 1930, with an estimated 15,000 people in attendance and a fly-by of 233 planes.
• When Randolph resumed flying training activities in March 1948, primary pilot training was deleted from its program, and in August 1948 the 3510th Pilot Training Wing was activated.
• General Lahm established the Air Corps Training Center in August 1926 and set up its headquarters at Duncan Field, next to Kelly Field, Texas.
• In addition to being known as "Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio", another name for RND is "Randolph AFB".
• Clark's design was submitted to and drawn upon by George B.
• Once the site for the field was selected, a committee decided to name the base after Captain William Millican Randolph, a native of Austin and graduate of Texas A&M, who was killed on 17 February 1928, in the crash of a Curtiss AT-4 Hawk, 27–220, on takeoff from Gorman Field, Texas.
• The closest airport to Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND) is San Antonio International Airport (SAT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) W of RND.

Facts about Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE):

• In addition to being known as "Kieta/Aropa Airport", another name for KIE is "AYIQ".
• The original grass airfield was occupied and expanded by the Imperial Japanese in spring 1942.
• On 13 February 2012, Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reported that the landowners had announced their intention to reopen the airport.
• Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,844 miles (19,061 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Because of Kieta/Aropa Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Kieta/Aropa 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 closest airport to Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) is Balalae Airport (BAS), which is located 49 miles (79 kilometers) SSE of KIE.