Nonstop flight route between Arorae Island, Kiribati and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Arorae Island Airport (AIS), Arorae Island, Kiribati and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,830 miles (or 9,382 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 Arorae Island Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Arorae Island Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Arorae Island Airport (AIS):

• Because of Arorae Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Arorae Island 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 Arorae Island Airport (AIS) is Beru Island Airport (BEZ), which is located 103 miles (166 kilometers) NNW of AIS.
• The furthest airport from Arorae Island Airport (AIS) is Takoradi Airport (TKD), which is nearly antipodal to Arorae Island Airport (meaning Arorae Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takoradi Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The airfield and flight line was converted to an uncontrolled/UNICOM-only general aviation airport renamed Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, serving the City of Big Spring.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• Instruction of the first class began in April 1952.
• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.
• In August 1972, ATC established a pilot instructor training course for Vietnamese Air Force instructors at Webb AFB, Texas.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.