Nonstop flight route between Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and Kandahar, Afghanistan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SMS to KDH:
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- About this route
- SMS Airport Information
- KDH Airport Information
- Facts about SMS
- Facts about KDH
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMS
- List of Nearest Airports to SMS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMS
- List of Furthest Airports from SMS
- Map of Nearest Airports to KDH
- List of Nearest Airports to KDH
- Map of Furthest Airports from KDH
- List of Furthest Airports from KDH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Sainte Marie Airport (SMS), Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and Kabul International Airport (KDH), Kandahar, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,522 miles (or 5,669 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 Sainte Marie Airport and Kabul International 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 Sainte Marie Airport and Kabul International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMS / FMMS |
| Airport Name: | Sainte Marie Airport |
| Location: | Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar |
| GPS Coordinates: | 17°5'38"S by 49°48'56"E |
| Area Served: | Sainte Marie, Analanjirofo, Madagascar |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 7 feet (2 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SMS |
| More Information: | SMS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | KDH / OAKN |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Kandahar, Afghanistan |
| GPS Coordinates: | 31°30'25"N by 65°51'1"E |
| Area Served: | Southern Afghanistan |
| Operator/Owner: | Afghanistan |
| Airport Type: | Public/Military |
| Elevation: | 3330 feet (1,015 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from KDH |
| More Information: | KDH Maps & Info |
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.
- Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) is Toamasino Airport (TMM), which is located 76 miles (122 kilometers) SSW of SMS.
- 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.
Facts about Kabul International Airport (KDH):
- In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", other names for KDH include "Kandahar International Airport (Kandahar)" and "میدان هوایی بین المللی کندهار".
- The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Kabul International Airport (meaning Kabul International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,023 miles (19,349 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
- 2009 Surge and onwards
- The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KDH) is Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), which is located 76 miles (123 kilometers) N of KDH.
- Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR.
- Kabul International Airport (KDH) currently has only 1 runway.
- During Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, Kandahar Airport was one of the first coalition bases established in Afghanistan.
- Reconstruction and Canadian deployments
