Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,890 miles (or 17,526 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 Princess Juliana International 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 Princess Juliana International 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):

• Taxi coupon or town shuttle bus ticket to Tawau or Semporna can be bought at the respective counters inside the terminal.
• At present, this airport is being expanded to accommodate medium wide-body aircraft with 2 aero bridges.
• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• 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.
• The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.
• According to a survey, the old airport has one of the shortest runways in the country.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24.

Facts about Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM):

• Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Arriving aircraft approach the island on the last section of the final approach for Runway 10, following a 3° glide slope flying low over the famous Maho Beach.
• The furthest airport from Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Princess Juliana International Airport (meaning Princess Juliana International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of SXM.
• Because of Princess Juliana International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Princess Juliana International 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, the oil price increases since 2003 began impacting discretionary air travel worldwide by early 2008, and the prospect of further price increases threatens to reverse the recent expansion of tourist travel by jet which began with the 1980s oil glut.
• Because of increased passenger traffic and the expected growth of passenger traffic in the near future, Princess Juliana International Airport is being heavily modernized following a three-phased masterplan, commissioned in 1997.
• The main apron measures 72,500 square metres with another 5,000 square metres on Eastern apron.
• Although the airport is as close to the beach as it is, there have only been 2 major accidents.