Nonstop flight route between Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC), Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,770 miles (or 12,504 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 Ürümqi Diwopu 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 Ürümqi Diwopu 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Although the airport is as close to the beach as it is, there have only been 2 major accidents.
• 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.
• Phase II included the construction of a radar facility and a new air traffic control tower, the construction of a new and more modern, 27,000 square metres, terminal, capable of handling 2.5 million passengers per year, and the construction of a Runway End Safety Area of 150 metres, including a 60 metres overrun, on both ends of its runway, to comply with ICAO rules.
• Arriving aircraft approach the island on the last section of the final approach for Runway 10, following a 3° glide slope flying low over the famous Maho Beach.
• 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.
• 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.
• PJIA is equipped with VOR/DME and NDB.
• Phase I was a short-term program in order to upgrade existing facilities and improve the level of service at various points.
• Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC):

• The furthest airport from Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) is Gamboa Airport (WCA), which is located 11,489 miles (18,490 kilometers) away in Castro, Chile.
• Construction of Terminal 3 to the west of the older terminal building began in April 2007 at a cost of 2.8 billion yuan.
• In addition to being known as "Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport", other names for URC include "ئۈرۈمچى دىئوپا خەلقئارا ئايروپورتى乌鲁木齐地窝堡国际机场" and "Wūlǔmùqí Dìwōpù Guójì Jīcháng".
• The closest airport to Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) is Turpan Jiaohe Airport (TLQ), which is located 102 miles (163 kilometers) SE of URC.
• Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport handled 11,078,597 passengers last year.
• In 2002, 1,673,400 passengers and 35,000 tons of goods passed through Ürümqi Airport.
• Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) currently has only 1 runway.