Nonstop flight route between Sukhumi, Georgia and Butterworth, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI), Sukhumi, Georgia and RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,425 miles (or 7,121 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 Sukhumi Babushara Airport and RMAF Butterworth, 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 Sukhumi Babushara Airport and RMAF Butterworth. 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 Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI):

• The furthest airport from Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,052 miles (17,786 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Because of Sukhumi Babushara Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Sukhumi Babushara 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 2006 the government of the Republic of Abkhazia expressed its desire to resume international air traffic in the future, however the facility is not recognized as an international airport by ICAO and flights can only be allowed with the permission of the Georgian government.
• The airport is currently only used for flights to the mountain village of Pskhu and for flights carried out by Russian Air Force.
• The closest airport to Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) is Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) NW of SUI.
• Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RMAF Butterworth (UTE):

• RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
• On 30 June 1988, the airfield was handed over by RAAF to the Royal Malaysian Air Force and was renamed as RMAF Station Butterworth.
• RAF Butterworth was officially opened in October 1941, as a Royal Air Force station which was a part of the British defence plan for defending the Malayan Peninsula against an imminent threat of invasion by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II.
• In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", other names for UTE include "TUDM Butterworth", "BWH" and "WMKB".
• The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is RMAF Butterworth (BWH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of UTE.
• The RAF airfield was subsequently captured by units of the advancing 25th Army on 20 December 1941 and the control of the airbase was to remain in the hands of IJA until the end of hostilities in September 1945.
• Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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.