Nonstop flight route between Abilene, Texas, United States and Luqa, Malta:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), Abilene, Texas, United States and Malta International Airport (MLA), Luqa, Malta would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,084 miles (or 9,791 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 Abilene Regional Airport and Malta 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 Abilene Regional Airport and Malta 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 Abilene Regional Airport (ABI):

• Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) has 3 runways.
• Construction of the airport's new 130-foot -tall control tower began in August 2010 and is expected to be completed by January 2012.
• Texas State Technical College provides aviation maintenance training at its on-field hangar base.
• A GDS search indicated that Delta Air Lines would begin service to/from Atlanta in April 2014, but Abilene Airport officials stated on their Twitter account that there would be no such service.
• Most operations at the airport are general aviation and military training.
• Trans-Texas Airways flew turboprops from Amarillo and Lubbock as well as DC-9 jets to Dallas Love Field and then DFW.
• Southwest Medevac houses a medical helicopter and crew at the airport, available for emergency response 24/7.
• The furthest airport from Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,072 miles (17,819 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) W of ABI.

Facts about Malta International Airport (MLA):

• Services run between 2300 and 0400 on Friday and Saturday evenings, all year round.
• Car hire companies including Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, First Car Rental and Active Car Rental are located in the Welcomers' Hall.
• The airport is located 5 km southwest of the capital, Valletta.
• Because of Malta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Malta 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.
• Malta International Airport handled 405,200 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Malta International Airport", other names for MLA include "Luqa Airport" and "Valletta Airport".
• The furthest airport from Malta International Airport (MLA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The foundation stone of the present air terminal was laid in September 1989 and inaugurated in record time 29 months later in February 1992.
• The closest airport to Malta International Airport (MLA) is Xewkija / Gozo Heliport (GZM), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NW of MLA.
• Malta International Airport (MLA) has 2 runways.
• The Malta Airport MetOffice is part of the Malta International Airport and provides the function of a national meteorological service for Malta.