Nonstop flight route between Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vadsø Airport (VDS), Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway and King Shaka International (DUR), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,888 miles (or 11,085 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 Vadsø Airport and King Shaka International, 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 Vadsø Airport and King Shaka International. 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 Vadsø Airport (VDS):

• On 4 January 1984 a Cessna aircraft crashed into the sea after take-off from the airport.
• The furthest airport from Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,407 miles (16,748 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Widerøe operated Twin Otters on the route until 1995, when the Dash 8 was introduced.
• Vadsø was during the late 1930s and from the mid-1940s served with a seaplane route operated by Widerøe and Norwegian Air Lines.
• The closest airport to Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) S of VDS.
• In addition to being known as "Vadsø Airport", another name for VDS is "Vadsø lufthavn".
• Both Widerøe and Norving applied to operate the Finnmark route, which would connect the airports together and to the primary airports in Finnmark and Tromsø Airport.
• Because of Vadsø Airport's relatively low elevation of 127 feet, planes can take off or land at Vadsø 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.
• Vadsø Airport handled 81,772 passengers last year.

Facts about King Shaka International (DUR):

• King Shaka International (DUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The final obstacle was a delay in the approval of the project's Environmental Impact Assessment by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
• Because of King Shaka International's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at King Shaka International 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 closest airport to King Shaka International (DUR) is Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) W of DUR.
• The arrivals area is located on the lower floor, with a baggage reclaim hall containing 5 conveyors that can be allocated between domestic and international use.
• The project was then hit by a tender war between the Illembe consortium and the Indiza consortium.
• As a result, a study into the risks of bird strikes at KSIA was commissioned, with special attention being paid to the Barn Swallows at Mount Moreland.
• In 2013 Skytrax announced that King Shaka International Airport was the best airport in the world handling under 5 million passengers.
• The furthest airport from King Shaka International (DUR) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,682 miles (18,801 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.