Nonstop flight route between Sibu, Malaysia and East London, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sibu Airport (SBW), Sibu, Malaysia and East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,966 miles (or 9,602 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 Sibu Airport and East London 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 Sibu Airport and East London 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 Sibu Airport (SBW):

• The furthest airport from Sibu Airport (SBW) is Ipiranga Airport (IPG), which is nearly antipodal to Sibu Airport (meaning Sibu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ipiranga Airport), and is located 12,312 miles (19,814 kilometers) away in Santo Antônio do Içá, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Sibu Airport (SBW) currently has only 1 runway.
• On that remarkably historical night, the air traffic clearance "Clear to land" was issued from the Sibu Air Traffic Control Tower on the assigned frequency 122.6 MHZ to the first Boeing 737-500 to land on the asphalt surface of the designated runway 13.
• The closest airport to Sibu Airport (SBW) is Mukah Airport (MKM), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) N of SBW.
• The airport underwent an expansion project that involved upgrading of the terminal building, car park and the addition of more aerobridges.
• Sibu Airport handled 1,383,887 passengers last year.
• The first airport in Sibu was built in Teku, during World War II by the Japanese as a basic air strip.
• In addition to being known as "Sibu Airport", other names for SBW include "Lapangan Terbang Sibu", "诗巫机场" and "WBGS".
• Because of Sibu Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Sibu 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.
• Sibu New Airport was built with a single runway designated as runway 13/31.
• On 15 August 1990, a Lockheed C-130H Hercules belonging to the Royal Malaysian Air Force skidded off the runway and the aircraft had been written off.

Facts about East London Airport (ELS):

• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.
• Because of East London Airport's relatively low elevation of 436 feet, planes can take off or land at East London 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.
• East London Airport resides at an elevation of 435 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from East London Airport (ELS) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,569 miles (18,618 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.
• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.
• The closest airport to East London Airport (ELS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WSW of ELS.