Nonstop flight route between Knoxville, Tennessee, United States and Nairobi, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), Knoxville, Tennessee, United States and Wilson Airport (WIL), Nairobi, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,972 miles (or 12,830 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 McGhee Tyson Airport and Wilson 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 McGhee Tyson Airport and Wilson 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 McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS):

• McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) has 2 runways.
• In 2000 the last major project, improvements to the passenger terminal, was finished at a cost of $70 million.
• The furthest airport from McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,348 miles (18,263 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1927 McGhee Tyson airport opened in honor of Charles McGhee Tyson.
• The fixed base operator at TYS is the Truman-Arnold Company.
• The closest airport to McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) is Gatlinburg–Pigeon Forge Airport (GKT), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) E of TYS.
• McGhee Tyson Airport handled 1,688,882 passengers last year.
• Because of McGhee Tyson Airport's relatively low elevation of 981 feet, planes can take off or land at McGhee Tyson 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 "McGhee Tyson Airport", another name for TYS is "McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base".
• This airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 841,237 enplanements in 2011, an increase from 804,917 in 2010.

Facts about Wilson Airport (WIL):

• The furthest airport from Wilson Airport (WIL) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,619 miles (18,698 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Wilson Airport (WIL) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) E of WIL.
• This location is approximately 18 kilometres, by road, west of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the largest civilian airport in the country.
• In 2012 Kiss TV did a 15-minute report called dying Wilson.
• Airkenya and other small airlines use Wilson Airport for scheduled domestic passenger services, instead of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
• Wilson Airport (WIL) has 2 runways.
• Because of Wilson Airport's high elevation of 5,546 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.