Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,167 miles (or 14,752 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 Tawau Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Tawau Airport and RAF Ascension. 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 Tawau Airport (TWU):

• Tawau airport is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.
• Like other airports in the country, Tawau Airport is under the management of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• At present, this airport is being expanded to accommodate medium wide-body aircraft with 2 aero bridges.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Taxi coupon or town shuttle bus ticket to Tawau or Semporna can be bought at the respective counters inside the terminal.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24.
• The furthest airport from Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau 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.
• However on 15 September 1995, a Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m before the end of the 2,200 m long runway.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".
• RAF Ascension Island was re-garrisoned by the RAF in 1982 and used extensively as a staging base during the Falklands War.
• In 1939 Ascension became important as a HF/DF radio station covering trade routes.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.