Nonstop flight route between Luanda, Angola and Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD), Luanda, Angola and Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU), Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,281 miles (or 16,545 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 Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport and Fuaʻamotu 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 Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport and Fuaʻamotu 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 Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD):

• In addition to being known as "Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport", other names for LAD include "Aeroporto 4 de Fevereiro (Belas) (Luanda)" and "Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro".
• The furthest airport from Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) is Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), which is located 11,862 miles (19,090 kilometers) away in Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.
• Because of Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Quatro de Fevereiro 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 closest airport to Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) is Ambriz Airport (AZZ), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) N of LAD.
• On 27 June 2009, a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER G-RAES was damaged, while it was parked, by a collision with a Hainan Airlines Airbus A340-600 B-6510.
• Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport handled 2,430,794 passengers last year.
• Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) has 2 runways.
• On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.
• In the near future, the airport will be replaced by the new Angola International Airport.

Facts about Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU):

• Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Lifuka Island Airport (HPA), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) NNE of TBU.
• The furthest airport from Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport (TMR), which is nearly antipodal to Fuaʻamotu International Airport (meaning Fuaʻamotu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,830 kilometers) away in Tamanrasset, Algeria.
• Fuaʻamotu was originally built in 1942 by a civilian contractor for the US Army.
• Until August 2006, Peau Vavaʻu used a DC-3 on their domestic routes, but this has recently been replaced with a Jetstream 41.
• Because of Fuaʻamotu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Fuaʻamotu 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.
• It is the strength of the runway rather than the length that restricts operations from Fuaʻamotu.
• Some short-haul international flights such as to Fiji or American Samoa also operate from Vavaʻu Island's Lupepauʻu Airport from time to time.