Nonstop flight route between Mthatha, South Africa and Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mthatha Airport (UTT), Mthatha, South Africa and Rochester Airport (RCS), Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,978 miles (or 9,621 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 Mthatha Airport and Rochester 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 Mthatha Airport and Rochester 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 Mthatha Airport (UTT):

• Mthatha Airport (UTT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mthatha Airport (UTT) is Margate Airport (MGH), which is located 109 miles (176 kilometers) ENE of UTT.
• The furthest airport from Mthatha Airport (UTT) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,642 miles (18,736 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Rochester Airport (RCS):

• Rochester Airport (RCS) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Rochester Airport (RCS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Local ward councillors are very enthusiastic about the proposals and once they are implemented should see the Airport being available for use for a greater part of the year due to an all weather surface being planned for the 02/20 runway.
• The Air Ministry licensed Short Brothers in 1936 to design and build a four-engined high-wing monoplane.
• Rochester airport was bombed heavily during the war by a wing of Dornier Do 17s on 15 August 1940.
• The closest airport to Rochester Airport (RCS) is London Southend Airport (SEN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of RCS.
• Passenger flights to and from the continent expanded in the 1950s and 60's using Douglas DC-3s and de Havilland Doves operated by Channel Airways but with stringent requirement of the Civil Aviation Authority, operators had to re-locate from Rochester.
• Rochester Airport is an operational general aviation aerodrome located 1.5 nautical miles south of Rochester, Medway, South East England, with the River Medway 1.5 NM from the end of runway 34, 3.4 mi from Chatham and its Historic Dockyard and the Medway area.
• Because of Rochester Airport's relatively low elevation of 426 feet, planes can take off or land at Rochester 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.
• The inaugural flight into Rochester was from Gravesend, with John Parker flying their Short Scion, G-ACJI, powered by a Pobjoy engine.
• Rochester Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee.