Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Osaka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Osaka International Airport (OSA), Osaka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,581 miles (or 8,981 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Osaka 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Osaka International 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The initial completion deadline for the new terminal was 15 December 2004 to a total budget of 112.2 million euro.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• Terminal 2 was officially opened on 27 December 2006 with the symbolic arrival of Bulgaria Air flight FB 408 from Brussels.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.

Facts about Osaka International Airport (OSA):

• The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (OSA) is Osaka International Airport (ITM), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of OSA.
• Osaka International Airport (OSA) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Osaka International Airport", other names for OSA include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港", "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō", "ITM" and "RJOO".
• On the other hand, the Japanese government has historically supported Kansai at Itami's expense, and current Osaka City mayor and former Osaka Prefecture governor Toru Hashimoto has been a particularly vocal critic of the airport, arguing that the Chuo Shinkansen maglev line will make much of its domestic role irrelevant, and that its domestic functions should be transferred to Kansai in conjunction with upgraded high-speed access to Kansai from central Osaka.
• The furthest airport from Osaka International Airport (OSA) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• There were originally plans to close Itami Airport following the opening of Kansai, but nearby communities opposed such a move for economic reasons, so Itami was retained as a domestic-only airport after Kansai opened in 1994.
• Itami Airport opened as No.
• Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka International 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.
• In May 1968, a group of local citizens decided to sue the government for damages related to noise pollution from Itami Airport.