Nonstop flight route between Sibu, Malaysia and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sibu Airport (SBW), Sibu, Malaysia and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,274 miles (or 13,316 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 Tonopah Test Range 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 Tonopah Test Range 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• Sibu Airport (SBW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The brand new check-in counters of the airport were opened on 19 December 2011.
• The closest airport to Sibu Airport (SBW) is Mukah Airport (MKM), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) N of SBW.
• Sibu New Airport was built with a single runway designated as runway 13/31.
• Sibu Airport handled 1,383,887 passengers last year.
• 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• In 2006, the Constant Peg program was declassified and the USAF held a series of press conferences about the former top secret US MiGs.
• Foreign military sales of United States fighter aircraft to Indonesia and Egypt in the mid-1970s to replace the Soviet fighter aircraft allowed these nations to clandestinely transfer un-needed MiG-21 ultra modern MiG-23s aircraft to the United States for evaluation.
• In the summer of 1979, Tonopah Test Range Airport was selected to be the home of the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group.
• The Tonopah Range Airport first opened in 1957, supporting operations on the Test Range itself, which was used for United States Atomic Energy Commission ) funded weapon programs.
• In addition, unconfirmed Soviet aircraft flown were MiG-25 Foxbat.