Nonstop flight route between Timbuktu, Mali and Akrotiri, Cyprus:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Timbuktu Airport (TOM), Timbuktu, Mali and RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,539 miles (or 4,086 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 Timbuktu Airport and RAF Akrotiri, 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 Timbuktu Airport and RAF Akrotiri. 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 Timbuktu Airport (TOM):

• In addition to being known as "Timbuktu Airport", another name for TOM is "Tombouctou Airport".
• Timbuktu Airport (TOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Timbuktu Airport's relatively low elevation of 863 feet, planes can take off or land at Timbuktu 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 furthest airport from Timbuktu Airport (TOM) is Yasawa Island Airport (YAS), which is nearly antipodal to Timbuktu Airport (meaning Timbuktu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yasawa Island Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Yasawa Island, Fiji.
• The closest airport to Timbuktu Airport (TOM) is Goundam Airport (GUD), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) WSW of TOM.

Facts about RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• The furthest airport from RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,556 miles (18,598 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• In the mid-1980s, the US launched retaliatory attacks against Libya after the country's leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, was implicated in terrorist attacks against US military bases.
• Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it is often used by British allies when needed, such as for casualty reception for Americans after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and as a staging post before heading into theatres of combat in the Middle East/Persian Gulf theaters.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• The U-2s of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used in Operation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information about Hezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities.
• In September 1976 the US U-2 operations were turned over to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, but the U-2 operation at RAF Akrotiri continued to be called Operating Location OH until September 1980.
• In August 1970 a detachment of "G" of the Central Intelligence Agency arrived at the airfield with U-2 aircraft to monitor the Egypt/Israel Suez Canal fighting and cease fire.