Nonstop flight route between Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Falalop Airfield (ULI), Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia and King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,677 miles (or 12,355 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 Falalop Airfield and King Shaka International, 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 Falalop Airfield and King Shaka International. 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 Falalop Airfield (ULI):

• Units stationed at Falalop included VMD-354 operating photo-reconnaissance F4Us and VMF-542 operating F6F-3N night-fighters.
• The furthest airport from Falalop Airfield (ULI) is Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ), which is nearly antipodal to Falalop Airfield (meaning Falalop Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport), and is located 12,385 miles (19,931 kilometers) away in Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Falalop Airfield (ULI) is Yap International Airport (YAP), which is located 122 miles (196 kilometers) WSW of ULI.
• The airfield remains in use today.

Facts about King Shaka International (DUR):

• Because of King Shaka International's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at King Shaka International 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.
• On 8 December 2009, it was reported that "King Shaka International Airport" was indeed the most popular name for the new airport.
• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• One of the objectives of the cargo terminal is to recapture local air freight traffic from JNB.
• Despite wide expectations that the airport would be named "King Shaka International Airport", it emerged in October 2009 that the airport needed to undergo a formal naming process.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• The closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• The furthest airport from King Shaka International (DUR) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,682 miles (18,801 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.