Nonstop flight route between Upington, South Africa and Roanoke, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Upington Airport (UTN), Upington, South Africa and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA), Roanoke, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,955 miles (or 12,802 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 Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional 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 Upington Airport and Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional 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 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.
• 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.
• From August 1976 to December 1996, South African Airways made use of Upington as a refuelling station for two weekly scheduled Boeing 747 flights to London and Zurich.
• As well as improvements to the airport itself, ACSA will be preparing land around the airport for development to support the inevitable boost to the local economy.

Facts about Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA):

• The closest airport to Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport (BCB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) WSW of ROA.
• Landside facilities, or the facilities located outside the TSA security checkpoint, include check-in, car rental, baggage claim and a taxi hire.
• The furthest airport from Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,559 miles (18,603 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport", another name for ROA is "Woodrum Field".
• Originally 5,900 feet in length, an expansion to lengthen Runway 6/24 was originally envisioned in the 1970s.
• Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) has 2 runways.
• The current terminal building was designed by the Charlotte based architectural firm of Odell Associates and was built to serve as a replacement for the 1953 terminal, later demolished in 2005.
• Roanoke Regional saw 685,000 passengers in 2007, with 71 percent on-time departures and 68 percent on-time arrivals.
• Local residents and businesses sometimes complain about the airport's limited number of non-stop flights and lack of low priced fares.
• Between 1984–1985, the city of Roanoke developed an Airport Master Plan calling for $43.8 million to be spent in the development of a new terminal building, in addition to other improvements throughout the site.