Nonstop flight route between Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Swansea Airport (SWS), Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom and King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,004 miles (or 9,663 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 Swansea Airport and King Shaka International, 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 Swansea Airport and King Shaka International. 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 Swansea Airport (SWS):

• The Welsh Assembly Government is currently conducting studies into improving the facilities at the airport as part of the transport infrastructure development strategy for the whole of Wales.
• Because of Swansea Airport's relatively low elevation of 299 feet, planes can take off or land at Swansea 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.
• Several small general aviation companies conduct fixed-wing and helicopter pilot training.
• The fire brigade at Swansea is CAT 1, and able to do CAT 2 on request.
• Swansea Airport is an airport located at Fairwood Common on the Gower Peninsula 5 NM west south-west of Swansea, Wales.
• Air Wales used the airport between October 2001 and October 2004, offering flights to Dublin, Cork, Amsterdam, Jersey and London.
• The closest airport to Swansea Airport (SWS) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) ESE of SWS.
• The furthest airport from Swansea Airport (SWS) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Swansea Airport (SWS) has 2 runways.

Facts about King Shaka International (DUR):

• The furthest airport from King Shaka International (DUR) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,682 miles (18,801 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• On 8 December 2009, it was reported that "King Shaka International Airport" was indeed the most popular name for the new airport.
• Because of King Shaka International's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at King Shaka International 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 closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• In response to the study, ACSA contracted De-Tect Inc.
• The largest aircraft KSIA currently has scheduled services for is the Boeing 777-300ER, with Emirates operating Dubai–Durban, despite the fact that KSIA's runway length and terminal were designed to theoretically handle regular large airliners.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• One of the objectives of the cargo terminal is to recapture local air freight traffic from JNB.