Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Blackpool, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Blackpool International Airport (BLK), Blackpool, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,777 miles (or 7,687 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Blackpool 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Blackpool 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• 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.
• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• Webb Air Force Base, previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in west Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring.
• Instruction of the first class began in April 1952.
• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.
• 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.
• 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 AT-11 which was activated to replace the separate air and ground units.
• 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 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.

Facts about Blackpool International Airport (BLK):

• In recent years the airport has been steadily expanding, accommodating helicopter operations for British Gas, and attracting scheduled flights from budget airlines, Jet2 and Ryanair and also scheduled services by smaller operators to the Isle of Man.
• The closest airport to Blackpool International Airport (BLK) is Warton Aerodrome (WRT), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ESE of BLK.
• Blackpool International Airport handled 262,630 passengers last year.
• During 2006, British North West Airlines, the smallest airline based at Blackpool has, according to its website, stopped trading for both charter and scheduled flights.
• Blackpool Airport Limited has a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
• The factory was reopened by Hawker Aircraft in the mid-1950s to augment the production of Hawker Hunter jet fighters, under contract SP/6ACFT/9817/CB 7a.
• Three scheduled airlines operate from the airport, as well as occasional charter holiday flights in the summer months.
• After the £10 Airport Development Fee was introduced at the start of 2009, a new airline was sought to replace Ryanair on its very popular route to Dublin.
• Blackpool International Airport (BLK) has 2 runways.
• Because of Blackpool International Airport's relatively low elevation of 34 feet, planes can take off or land at Blackpool 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.
• In addition to being known as "Blackpool International Airport", another name for BLK is "Squires Gate Airport".
• The furthest airport from Blackpool International Airport (BLK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,823 miles (19,027 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Work on enlarging and improving the airfield and facilities began in late 1937, but the aerodrome was requisitioned by the Air Ministry in 1938.
• In 2007, Jet2 cancelled its Prague and Amsterdam services blaming insufficient passenger numbers as the reason to suspend the route.