Nonstop flight route between Luganville, Vanuatu and Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SON to CMU:
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- About this route
- SON Airport Information
- CMU Airport Information
- Facts about SON
- Facts about CMU
- Map of Nearest Airports to SON
- List of Nearest Airports to SON
- Map of Furthest Airports from SON
- List of Furthest Airports from SON
- Map of Nearest Airports to CMU
- List of Nearest Airports to CMU
- Map of Furthest Airports from CMU
- List of Furthest Airports from CMU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu and Chimbu Airport (CMU), Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,644 miles (or 2,646 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 relatively short distance between Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Chimbu Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SON / NVSS |
Airport Name: | Santo-Pekoa International Airport |
Location: | Luganville, Vanuatu |
GPS Coordinates: | 15°30'20"S by 167°13'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
Elevation: | 184 feet (56 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SON |
More Information: | SON Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CMU / AYCH |
Airport Name: | Chimbu Airport |
Location: | Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°1'27"S by 144°58'13"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4974 feet (1,516 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from CMU |
More Information: | CMU Maps & Info |
Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):
- Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa 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.
- The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the Guadalcanal Campaign.
- The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
- The Thirteenth Air Force was based at Pekoa from 13 January 1943 until 20 January 1944 when it moved to Carney Airfield on Guadalcanal.
- Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
- The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
- Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Chimbu Airport (CMU):
- The closest airport to Chimbu Airport (CMU) is Goroka Airport (GKA), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) E of CMU.
- Because of Chimbu Airport's high elevation of 4,974 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CMU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CMU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Chimbu Airport (CMU) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Chimbu Airport (CMU) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,731 miles (18,879 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.