Nonstop flight route between Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Toncontín International Airport (TGU), Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,191 miles (or 13,182 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 Toncontín International Airport and Buka Island 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 Toncontín International Airport and Buka Island 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 Toncontín International Airport (TGU):

• The closest airport to Toncontín International Airport (TGU) is Soto Cano Air Base (XPL), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of TGU.
• The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranks it as the second most dangerous airport in the world.
• Toncontín International Airport handled 493,000 passengers last year.
• The airport received much notoriety as being one of the most dangerous in the world due to its proximity to mountainous terrain, its short runway, and its historically difficult approach to runway 02.
• The furthest airport from Toncontín International Airport (TGU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Toncontín International Airport (meaning Toncontín International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,530 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Toncontín International Airport (TGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Toncontín International Airport", another name for TGU is "Aeropuerto Internacional Toncontín".
• Historically, larger aircraft have occasionally landed at Toncontín, such as a Douglas DC-8 on a mission with Orbis International in 1987, and a C-17 Globemaster in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
• On May 30, 2008, the tragedy of TACA Flight 390 prompted the announcement by then Honduran President Manuel Zelaya that all large aircraft operations would move to the Soto Cano Air Base.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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 closest airport to Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.
• In 2004, the airport experienced some closures due to land disputes.
• Buka Airport is an airport serving Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
• In January 1944, the Allies drove the Japanese out of Buka, and the airfield was used for operations against the Japanese over New Guinea.