Nonstop flight route between Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kobe Airport (UKB), Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,922 miles (or 9,530 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 Kobe Airport and RAF Brize Norton, 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 Kobe Airport and RAF Brize Norton. 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 Kobe Airport (UKB):

• The furthest airport from Kobe Airport (UKB) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Kobe Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobe 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.
• Kobe Airport (UKB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kobe Airport", other names for UKB include "神戸空港" and "Kōbe Kūkō".
• The Transport Ministry has capped scheduled domestic operations at 30 daily flights, and has banned international flights with the exception of private aircraft and "own use" charters, in order to prevent overcrowding in the area's airspace and to protect the growth of Kansai Airport.
• The airport finally opened on February 16, 2006, with Japan Airlines operating the first flight and All Nippon Airways operating the first scheduled flight.
• Some international charter flights also use Kobe Airport.
• The closest airport to Kobe Airport (UKB) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of UKB.
• As part of its bankruptcy restructuring, JAL terminated all services out of Kobe and closed its office on June 1, 2010, in response to which Skymark Airlines announced a major expansion at the airport.

Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• The station is home to the Administrative Wing, Airport of Embarkation Wing, Depth Support Wing, Forward Support Wing and Operations Wing.
• By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• By March 2011, 70 buildings had been refurbished on the station.
• By the end of June 2011 all flying units from RAF Lyneham had moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• On 19 September 2005, Brize Norton was closed as part of a major upgrade project.