Nonstop flight route between Valence, France and Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France and Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,281 miles (or 6,890 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport and Princess Juliana 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport and Princess Juliana 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):

• The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
• The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Used by the French Air Force base after the war, it was closed and today the airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service.
• In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
• Twelfth Air Force combat engineers moved into Valence-Chabeuil Airport in late August 1944, and cleared the airport of mines and destroyed German aircraft.
• Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.
• Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.

Facts about Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM):

• Despite the reputed difficulties in approach, there have been no records of major incidents at the airport, although ALM Flight 980 crashed 30 miles from St.
• Since official opening of the new control tower, PJIA air traffic controllers have two radar systems at their disposal with ranges of 50 nautical miles and 250 nautical miles.
• The closest airport to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of SXM.
• Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Phase II included the construction of a radar facility and a new air traffic control tower, the construction of a new and more modern, 27,000 square metres, terminal, capable of handling 2.5 million passengers per year, and the construction of a Runway End Safety Area of 150 metres, including a 60 metres overrun, on both ends of its runway, to comply with ICAO rules.
• The new four-story terminal building offers 27,000 square metres of floor space and is fully air-conditioned.
• PJIA is equipped with VOR/DME and NDB.
• The main apron measures 72,500 square metres with another 5,000 square metres on Eastern apron.
• Because of Princess Juliana International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Princess Juliana 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.
• The furthest airport from Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Princess Juliana International Airport (meaning Princess Juliana International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.