Nonstop flight route between Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada and Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between CFB Goose Bay (YYR), Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada and O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,595 miles (or 12,224 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 CFB Goose Bay and O. R. Tambo 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 CFB Goose Bay and O. R. Tambo 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 CFB Goose Bay (YYR):

• In addition to being known as "CFB Goose Bay", another name for YYR is "Goose Bay Airport".
• To provide rescue and range support to the jet aircraft operating from Goose Bay the Canadian Forces provided a Base Rescue Flight consisting of three CH-135 Twin Huey helicopters.
• The closest airport to CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Rigolet Airport (YRG), which is located 100 miles (161 kilometers) NE of YYR.
• In response to lessons learned from the Vietnam War and the growing sophistication of Soviet anti-aircraft radar and surface-to-air missile technology being deployed in Europe, NATO allies began looking at new doctrines in the 1970s–1980s which mandated low-level flight to evade detection.
• CFB Goose Bay (YYR) has 2 runways.
• The Canadian Forces continued to use Goose Bay for staging interceptor aircraft, however Canadian Forces Air Command concentrated on purchasing the new CF-18 interceptor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• In 1983, a NASA Boeing 747 transport aircraft carrying the Space Shuttle Enterprise landed at CFB Goose Bay to refuel on its way to a European tour where the shuttle was then displayed in France and the United Kingdom.
• In 2004 the RAF announced its intent to close the permanent RAF detachment, effective 31 March 2005.
• Because of CFB Goose Bay's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at CFB Goose Bay 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 CFB Goose Bay (YYR) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,164 miles (17,967 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Goose Bay was the site of the first US nuclear weapons in Canada, when in 1950 the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command stationed 11 model 1561 Fat Man atomic bombs at the base.

Facts about O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB):

• The closest airport to O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Rand Airport (QRA), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SW of JNB.
• The airport was founded in 1952 as "Jan Smuts Airport", two years after his death, near the town of Kempton Park on the East Rand.
• O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) has 2 runways.
• A transit terminal has been built between the domestic and international terminals.
• O. R. Tambo International Airport handled 18,794,897 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,979 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• In addition to being known as "O. R. Tambo International Airport", another name for JNB is "Johannesburg International Airport".
• A second terminal between the two runways has also been mooted, which is proposed for completion by 2012.
• Because of O. R. Tambo International Airport's high elevation of 5,558 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JNB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JNB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.