Nonstop flight route between Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Kuching International Airport (KCH), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,950 miles (or 17,622 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 Princess Juliana International Airport and Kuching 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 Princess Juliana International Airport and Kuching 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 Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM):

• PJIA is equipped with VOR/DME and NDB.
• Because of Princess Juliana International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Princess Juliana 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 new four-story terminal building offers 27,000 square metres of floor space and is fully air-conditioned.
• Despite the reputed difficulties in approach, there have been no records of major incidents at the airport, although ALM Flight 980 crashed 30 miles from St.
• Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) currently has only 1 runway.
• However, the oil price increases since 2003 began impacting discretionary air travel worldwide by early 2008, and the prospect of further price increases threatens to reverse the recent expansion of tourist travel by jet which began with the 1980s oil glut.
• Because the approach to Runway 10 is over water, pilots can become disoriented regarding their perceived altitude when operating under visual flight rules.
• The closest airport to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of SXM.
• Because of increased passenger traffic and the expected growth of passenger traffic in the near future, Princess Juliana International Airport is being heavily modernized following a three-phased masterplan, commissioned in 1997.
• Although the airport is as close to the beach as it is, there have only been 2 major accidents.
• The furthest airport from Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Princess Juliana International Airport (meaning Princess Juliana International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• If traffic develops as forecast, Phase III of the masterplan will be executed, consisting of an extension of the new terminal building and the construction of a full parallel taxiway system.

Facts about Kuching International Airport (KCH):

• The furthest airport from Kuching International Airport (KCH) is Ipiranga Airport (IPG), which is nearly antipodal to Kuching International Airport (meaning Kuching International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ipiranga Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Santo Antônio do Içá, Amazonas, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kuching International Airport (KCH) is Sematan Airport (BSE), which is located 61 miles (98 kilometers) SW of KCH.
• Work on the strengthening and extension of the runway to 2,454 metres in length started in 1973 and was completed in 1976, capable of handling Boeing 707 turbofan aircraft.
• Construction of the terminal complex at the north site took a centre stage at the end of 1978 and was completed in July 1983.
• Kuching International Airport handled 4,871,036 passengers last year.
• AirAsia may introduce daily flights from Kuching to Bangkok, Jakarta, Macau and Clark.
• In 1962, the runway was extended once more to a length of 1921 meters to facilitate DeHavilland Comet-4 turbojet aircraft operations.
• Kuching International Airport (KCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Kuching International Airport then became the gateway to Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo with the introduction of once weekly Douglas Dakota twin-engined piston aircraft services originating from Singapore.
• Because of Kuching International Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuching 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.
• As one of the two states in Malaysia which controls its own immigration autonomy, Sarawak exercises special regulation upon arriving and departing from all Sarawakian airports including Kuching.
• In addition to being known as "Kuching International Airport", another name for KCH is "Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuching 古晋国际机场".