Nonstop flight route between Upington, South Africa and Vientiane, Laos:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Upington Airport (UTN), Upington, South Africa and Wattay International Airport (VTE), Vientiane, Laos would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,299 miles (or 10,137 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 Wattay International 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 Wattay International 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):

• With the fall of the Portuguese regime in Angola, South African Airways lost its landing rights in Luanda.
• Upington Airport (UTN) has 3 runways.
• Upington Airport was opened in 1968 as Pierre van Ryneveld Airport.
• Upington Airport's uncommonly long runway and its strategically advantageous location, close to South Africa's northern borders, makes it ideally placed to serve the African continent.
• 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.
• Private charter flights are provided by Walker Flying Services who operates Cessna 210 and Cessna 402 aircraft.
• Many major car manufacturers bring their cars and commercial vehicles to Upington to test them in the hot dry and sunny conditions.
• 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.

Facts about Wattay International Airport (VTE):

• Because of Wattay International Airport's relatively low elevation of 564 feet, planes can take off or land at Wattay International 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 "Wattay International Airport", other names for VTE include "ສະໜາມບິນສາກົນວັດໄຕ" and "สนามบินนานาชาติวัตไต".
• The closest airport to Wattay International Airport (VTE) is Udon Thani International Airport ท่าอากาศยานอุดรธานี (UTH), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SSE of VTE.
• Wattay International Airport (VTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is in Sikhodtabong District in Vientiane.
• The airport has a bonded warehouse building for air cargo passing through the airport.
• The furthest airport from Wattay International Airport (VTE) is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport (NZC), which is nearly antipodal to Wattay International Airport (meaning Wattay International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Nazca, Ica Region, Peru.