Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Sitka, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT), Sitka, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,580 miles (or 10,589 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 Sitka Rocky Gutierrez 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 Tawau Airport and Sitka Rocky Gutierrez 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 Tawau Airport (TWU):

• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• 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.
• Tawau airport is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.
• The airport was subsequently opened to public in December 2001.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Taxi coupon or town shuttle bus ticket to Tawau or Semporna can be bought at the respective counters inside the terminal.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.

Facts about Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT):

• The airport is named after Sitka's former mayor Rocky Gutierrez.
• The furthest airport from Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,611 miles (17,077 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) is Chatham Seaplane Base (CYM), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NNE of SIT.
• Safety hazards include boulders from the causeway washing onto the runway during storms, high winds because of its exposed location, and large flocks of birds that live very close to the airport.
• Because of Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Sitka Rocky Gutierrez 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.
• Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport also has hangars for air traffic control, Civil Air Patrol, and private enterprises.