Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,330 miles (or 11,797 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 Gray Army Airfield and Tawau 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 Gray Army Airfield and Tawau 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1980s developed air-assault strategies with their AH-1 Cobra helicopters based upon experiences learned in Vietnam.
• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
• After the Korean War, the 2d Aviation Company, of the 2d Infantry Division, which had been the first helicopter unit in Korea, returned to Fort Lewis with observation/spotter aircraft L-19 Bird Dogs, and L-20 Beavers, as well as H-23 Raven helicopters.
• The Washington National Guard 66th Aviation Brigade trains at Grey AAF and provides transportation support for fighting wildfires.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• During the Korean War, GAAF continued in the role as a training and division support field.

Facts about Tawau Airport (TWU):

• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• During the early days, Tawau airport was located on Jalan Utara, literally known as Northern road about 2 mi away from Tawau.
• Tawau Airport is located at Balung, 3 km further in from the Pan Borneo Highway.
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Taxi coupon or town shuttle bus ticket to Tawau or Semporna can be bought at the respective counters inside the terminal.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• An airport police station is located just at the opposite of the main terminal building.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24.
• Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau 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 Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.