Nonstop flight route between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Sainte Marie Airport (SMS), Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,913 miles (or 4,688 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 Sainte Marie 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 Sainte Marie 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):

• King Khalid International Airport handled 13,919,000 passengers last year.
• Centrally located in the passenger terminal complex, between the Royal Pavilion and the mosque is the air traffic control tower standing at 81 metres high.
• King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 166 miles (266 kilometers) WSW of RUH.
• This airport was constructed to meet the increasing international and local air transport requirements for Riyadh.
• The United States Air Force effectively took over these facilities temporarily from August 1990 through May 1991 as an airbase for aerial refueling tanker operations in support of the Gulf War.
• This facility has five separate Fire Houses, with several modern fire fighting vehicles, and trained firefighters.
• 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 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.
• There are four main passenger terminals at the airport.
• In addition to being known as "King Khalid International Airport", another name for RUH is "مطار الملك خالد الدولي".

Facts about Sainte Marie Airport (SMS):

• Because of Sainte Marie Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Sainte Marie 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 Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) is Guerrero Negro Airport (GUB), which is located 11,161 miles (17,962 kilometers) away in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
• The closest airport to Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) is Toamasino Airport (TMM), which is located 76 miles (122 kilometers) SSW of SMS.
• Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) currently has only 1 runway.