Nonstop flight route between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Hickory, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,046 miles (or 11,339 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 King Khalid International Airport and Hickory Regional 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 King Khalid International Airport and Hickory Regional 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 King Khalid International Airport (RUH):

• There is a total of 1,196 metres of the walkways, which are actually wide conveyor belts which operate at floor level and move at a speed of close to 1 metre per second.
• The closest airport to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 166 miles (266 kilometers) WSW of RUH.
• The elevators, escalators and moving walkways all have the latest safety equipment installed.
• In the northeast corner of the mosque plaza, a minaret rises 39 metres above the plaza level.
• In addition to being known as "King Khalid International Airport", another name for RUH is "مطار الملك خالد الدولي".
• King Khalid International Airport handled 13,919,000 passengers last year.
• There are 19 separate floor levels in the tower, including the operations area at the base of the tower and a total of 1,230 square metres of floor space.
• In addition, during the 1990–1991 Gulf War, the airport was the home to 205 General Evacuation Hospital RAMC of the British Army, who were accommodated at the nearby Singles Compound.
• The furthest airport from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Khalid International Airport (meaning King Khalid International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Heads of state and other high-ranking VIP visitors to the Kingdom are greeted in the Royal Pavilion.
• King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has 2 runways.

Facts about Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):

• Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
• Local officials hope to attract future commercial airline service, despite challenges caused by the relatively close proximity of the large Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,494 miles (18,499 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Hickory Municipal Airport was first opened to aircraft traffic on May 17, 1940.
• The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
• In the Fall of 1973, the Federal Aviation Administration, following much planning and work, commissioned an Air Traffic Control Tower at the Hickory Airport.
• The airport has an operating control tower from 7:00am to 9:00pm daily for safety and sequencing of aircraft landing and departing.