Nonstop flight route between Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States and Butterworth, South Africa:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from TCL to UTE:
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- About this route
- TCL Airport Information
- UTE Airport Information
- Facts about TCL
- Facts about UTE
- Map of Nearest Airports to TCL
- List of Nearest Airports to TCL
- Map of Furthest Airports from TCL
- List of Furthest Airports from TCL
- Map of Nearest Airports to UTE
- List of Nearest Airports to UTE
- Map of Furthest Airports from UTE
- List of Furthest Airports from UTE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States and RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,713 miles (or 15,631 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 Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field 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 Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field and RMAF Butterworth. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | TCL / KTCL |
Airport Name: | Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field |
Location: | Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°13'14"N by 87°36'41"W |
Area Served: | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
Operator/Owner: | City of Tuscaloosa |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 170 feet (52 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from TCL |
More Information: | TCL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | UTE / FABU |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Butterworth, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 5°27'57"N by 100°23'27"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence (Malaysia) |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 8 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from UTE |
More Information: | UTE Maps & Info |
Facts about Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL):
- Atlantic Southeast Airlines provided daily service between Tuscaloosa and Atlanta between 1982 and June 1992.GP Express Airlines would continue service to Atlanta from June 6, 1992, through the elimination of the EAS subsidy for its operation on June 30, 1994.
- The closest airport to Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is George Downer Airport (AIV), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WSW of TCL.
- Because of Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field's relatively low elevation of 170 feet, planes can take off or land at Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field 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.
- During World War II, the field was revamped to include a single main runway.
- The furthest airport from Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,131 miles (17,914 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Runway 11/29 was paved in the early 1950s.
- While visiting Tuscaloosa on April 29, 2011, to assess devastation reliefs efforts in the wake of the April 27th tornado disaster, President Barack Obama landed at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in the Boeing C-32 presidential transport plane.
- Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) has 2 runways.
- Military operations were inactivated on September 8, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
Facts about RMAF Butterworth (UTE):
- RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.
- On 30 June 1988, the airfield was handed over by RAAF to the Royal Malaysian Air Force and was renamed as RMAF Station Butterworth.
- 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.
- 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.
- RMAF Butterworth is an Air Force Station of the Royal Malaysian Air Force situated 4.5 nautical miles from Butterworth in the state of Penang, directly opposite the island itself.
- 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.
- In 1957, the RAF closed the station and it was transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and it was promptly renamed as RAAF Station Butterworth, becoming the home to numerous Australian fighter and bomber squadrons stationed in Malaya during the Cold War era.
- 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.