Nonstop flight route between Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia and Shafter, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alice Springs Airport (ASP), Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia and Shafter Airport (MIT), Shafter, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,071 miles (or 12,989 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 Alice Springs Airport and Shafter 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 Alice Springs Airport and Shafter 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 Alice Springs Airport (ASP):

• Alice Springs Airport handled 598,749 passengers last year.
• The facility is to be operated by Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Ltd which chose Alice Springs because its dry, arid climate is perfect for aircraft storage and preservation.
• Tragedy struck the airport again on 5 January 1977, when a former employee of Connair, Colin Richard Forman, flew a stolen aircraft into the Connair offices located at the airport, killing himself and three of the airline's employees.
• In 1958 it officially became Alice Springs Airport.
• Alice Springs Airport (ASP) has 2 runways.
• During 2010–11 a total of 640,519 domestic passengers passed through Alice Springs Airport making it the 18th busiest in Australia.
• The closest airport to Alice Springs Airport (ASP) is Cowra Airport (CWT), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) E of ASP.
• The furthest airport from Alice Springs Airport (ASP) is Barbuda Codrington Airport (BBQ), which is located 11,336 miles (18,243 kilometers) away in Codrington, Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda.
• The facility is also extensively used to launch stratospheric research balloons.

Facts about Shafter Airport (MIT):

• Because of Shafter Airport's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Shafter 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.
• Shafter Airport (MIT) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Shafter Airport (MIT) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,404 miles (18,353 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The primary aircraft flown at Minter Field was the Vultee BT-13 Valiant, which was used for basic flight training.
• In addition to being known as "Shafter Airport", another name for MIT is "Minter Field".
• The closest airport to Shafter Airport (MIT) is Meadows Field (BFL), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ESE of MIT.
• Shafter-Minter Field covers an area of 1,206 acres at an elevation of 424 feet above mean sea level.