Nonstop flight route between Timika, Papua, Indonesia and Valenciennes, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mozes Kilangin Airport (TIM), Timika, Papua, Indonesia and Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,283 miles (or 13,331 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 Mozes Kilangin Airport and Valenciennes-Denain 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 Mozes Kilangin Airport and Valenciennes-Denain 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 Mozes Kilangin Airport (TIM):

• The closest airport to Mozes Kilangin Airport (TIM) is Enarotali Airport (EWI), which is located 54 miles (88 kilometers) NW of TIM.
• The shooting was allegedly sparked when an army transporter, carrying 2 dead soldiers, who, according to differing reports, were either killed by OPM members during the hostage rescue operation, or hacked to death by villagers who had accused them of raping two women, made a fuel stop at Timika airport, and Lieutenant Sanurip realised that one of the two was a friend of his.
• The furthest airport from Mozes Kilangin Airport (TIM) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is located 11,939 miles (19,214 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
• In the ensuing shoot-out with military personnel, Sanurip killed a total of 16 people - 3 Kopassus officers, 8 ABRI soldiers and 5 civilians, one of them Airfast pilot Michael Findlay from New Zealand - and injured another 11, before he was wounded in the leg and subdued by fellow soldiers.
• On April 15, 1996 at about 5 a.m., Second Lieutenant Sanurip, 36, a member of Kopassus, who was assigned to take part at a military operation to secure the release of 11 hostages being held by the Free Papua Movement, began shooting indiscriminately with an automatic weapon at people near an army-run aircraft hangar.

Facts about Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• In French control after the war, the airport sat abandoned for several years.
• After the construction of a military airfield at Denain, the airfield was reactivated by the Luftwaffe, stationing Jagdgeschwader 3, a day fighter-interceptor unit assigned to the "Defense of the Reich" campaign against the American Eighth Air Force heavy bombers attacking targets in Occupied Europe and Germany.
• In addition, a reconnaissance unit, Aufklärungsgruppe 12 was assigned to Denain in October 1940 with Henschel Hs 126 twin-seat light observation planes.
• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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.
• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• C-47 Skytrain transports moved in and out of the American controlled airfield almost immediately after the runway was repaired, supplying the front line forces with the necessary materiel to support their advance.