Nonstop flight route between San Antonio, Texas, United States and Rabaul, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States and Rabaul Airport (RAB), Rabaul, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,510 miles (or 12,087 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Rabaul 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Rabaul 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):

• The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Lackland Air Force Base is home to the 37th Training Wing which operates a variety of training squadrons.
• In September 1972, the Houston-based 630th Radar Squadron sent a detachment to this FAA-operated site to set up an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar to join the AN/FPS-66A search radar already in place.
• On 1 February 1953 the 741st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Lackland 29°23′16.4″N 98°37′59.9″W / 29.387889°N 98.633306°W / 29.387889.
• Joint Base San Antonio, which includes Lackland Air Force Base, was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
• The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
• No other item in the 1960s compared to the incident that occurred at Lackland in February 1966 with the death of a basic trainee.

Facts about Rabaul Airport (RAB):

• The furthest airport from Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,780 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Namatanai Airport (ATN), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of RAB.
• Because of Rabaul Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Rabaul 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.
• Rabaul Airport (RAB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Rabaul Airport", another name for RAB is "Tokua Airport".
• A volcano eruption closed the airport for a day in 2006.