Nonstop flight route between Fletcher, North Carolina, United States and Tripoli, Libya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Fletcher, North Carolina, United States and Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,236 miles (or 8,427 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 Asheville Regional Airport and Mitiga 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 Asheville Regional Airport and Mitiga 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 Asheville Regional Airport (AVL):

• On May 4, 2007 a 1977 Cessna 182 en route to Asheville Regional Airport crashed near the airport, killing three Georgia men.
• Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of AVL.
• The furthest airport from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,430 miles (18,395 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• A Concorde visited AVL during a 1987 promotional tour and was snowed-in overnight.

Facts about Mitiga International Airport (MJI):

• After 1970, the facility was known as Okba Ben Nafi Air Base, a Libyan People's Air Force installation.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".
• On 25 October 2011, Google Earth released mutlispectral imagery from Geo Eye taken on 28 August which showed the airfield as well as the highly capable MiG-25 aircraft without any visible damage.
• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the The Times and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protestors opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
• The furthest airport from Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Rarotonga International Airport (RAR), which is located 11,524 miles (18,546 kilometers) away in Avarua, Cook Islands.
• The 48 TFW had practiced for years at Wheelus with F-100s and later at Zaragoza AB Spain with F-4D Phantoms and the F-111s for just such a mission.
• The closest airport to Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Tripoli International Airport (TIP), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MJI.
• The fourteen-hour 9,300-kilometre round trip to Libya required numerous in-air refuelings, because countries closer to Libya – Spain, Italy, France, and Greece – had refused American planes permission to fly over or from bases in their countries.
• Because of Mitiga International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Mitiga 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.