Nonstop flight route between Upington, South Africa and Diomede, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Upington Airport (UTN), Upington, South Africa and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO), Diomede, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,819 miles (or 15,801 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 Upington Airport and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2), 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 Upington Airport and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2). 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 Upington Airport (UTN):

• Upington Airport (UTN) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Upington Airport (UTN) is Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH), which is located 147 miles (236 kilometers) ENE of UTN.
• With the fall of the Portuguese regime in Angola, South African Airways lost its landing rights in Luanda.
• Many major car manufacturers bring their cars and commercial vehicles to Upington to test them in the hot dry and sunny conditions.
• Upington Airport was opened in 1968 as Pierre van Ryneveld Airport.
• The furthest airport from Upington Airport (UTN) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is nearly antipodal to Upington Airport (meaning Upington Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Princeville Airport), and is located 12,007 miles (19,323 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO):

• The closest airport to Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Wales Airport (WAA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DIO.
• The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 which included the Little Diomede.
• The furthest airport from Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,411 miles (16,755 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Because of Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2)'s relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) 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.
• At the beginning of the Cold War in the late 1940s Big Diomede became a Russian military base and all its native residents were removed to mainland Russia.
• An electric system was built on the island in the 1970s and electricity is provided by city-operated Diomede Joint Utilities.
• During the centuries, the village on Little Diomede was gradually inhabited as a permanent settlement and the entire island was incorporated into the city of Diomede in 1970.
• The island's only school, and likely the most isolated school in the United States, the Diomede School has grades from Pre-K through 12 and approximately 40 students and 5 teachers.