Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,817 miles (or 9,361 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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 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 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.
• The AT-11 which was activated to replace the separate air and ground units.
• The airfield was activated as Big Spring Air Force Base on 1 October 1951 by the United States Air Force Air Training Command and established the 3560th Pilot Training Wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.

Facts about Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO):

• The airport was officially opened on 15 January 1961, with two runways, replacing the smaller Rome Ciampino Airport, which remains in service for some low cost airlines as well as domestic and charter operations.
• The furthest airport from Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) has 4 runways.
• Because of Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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.
• On 2 May 2006, Meridiana's passenger handling staff transferred to Alitalia Airport, and the ramp employees transferred to Alitalia Airport in February 2007.
• Security Services transferred from the Polizia di Stato to Aeroporti di Roma in 2000.
• In addition to being known as "Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport", another name for FCO is "Fiumicino – Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci".
• In 2009, the terminals were renamed — A was renamed T1, AA was renamed T2, B and C became T3 and T5 stayed the same.
• Fiumicino Aeroporto railway station is served by the Leonardo Express train operated by Trenitalia, available at the airport terminal.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport handled 36,166,345 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) E of FCO.