Nonstop flight route between Valenciennes, France and Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France and Kuching International Airport (KCH), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,822 miles (or 10,978 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Kuching 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Kuching 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.
• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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.
• It was seized by the Germans in late May 1940 during the early part of the Battle of France.
• Denain Airport began as a pre-World War II airport in France, most likely with a grass runway and several support buildings and a hangar.
• After being used for a brief time as a storage depot for excess aircraft after the war ended by Air Technical Service Command, the Americans turned the airfield back over to French authorities on 25 June 1945.
• In response to the interceptor attacks, Denain was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs.
• It is known that Denain was used by the Royal Air Force, as it was assigned ALG "B-74".
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.

Facts about Kuching International Airport (KCH):

• As of 1999, two foreign airlines from both Singapore and Brunei as well as Malaysia's national carrier and as many as 8 private general aviation companies operated scheduled services into and out of Kuching International Airport.
• Kuching International Airport (KCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kuching International Airport", another name for KCH is "Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuching 古晋国际机场".
• The closest airport to Kuching International Airport (KCH) is Sematan Airport (BSE), which is located 61 miles (98 kilometers) SW of KCH.
• Sarawak will make a formal proposal to Malaysia Airlines for direct flights from Hong Kong, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Seoul to Kuching.
• As a result of the increasing number of passengers going into and out of Kuching, a completely new and larger terminal was needed.
• The furthest airport from Kuching International Airport (KCH) is Ipiranga Airport (IPG), which is nearly antipodal to Kuching International Airport (meaning Kuching International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ipiranga Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Santo Antônio do Içá, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Kuching International Airport then became the gateway to Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo with the introduction of once weekly Douglas Dakota twin-engined piston aircraft services originating from Singapore.
• The completed works involved above ground-level earthworks and pavement upgrades, extension of the runway length from 2454 metres to 3780 metres, widening of shoulders from 46 metres to 60 metres, extension of parallel taxiway to a full parallel taxiway with interconnection/rapid exit taxiways including widening of taxiway fillets and shoulders to 30 metres.
• Because of Kuching International Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuching 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 December 1972, the government accepted the Consultant's report.
• Kuching International Airport handled 4,871,036 passengers last year.