Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Ventspils, Latvia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Ventspils International Airport (VNT), Ventspils, Latvia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,421 miles (or 8,725 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 Ventspils 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 Ventspils 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.
• Big Spring Army Airfield
• Webb AFB was turned over to the General Services Agency for disposal on 1 January 1978 and the property later turned over to the Big Spring Industrial Park.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In August 1972, ATC established a pilot instructor training course for Vietnamese Air Force instructors at Webb AFB, Texas.
• 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.

Facts about Ventspils International Airport (VNT):

• The closest airport to Ventspils International Airport (VNT) is Liepāja International Airport (LPX), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) SSW of VNT.
• In addition to commercial traffic, state departments used the airport for various reasons.
• Because of Ventspils International Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Ventspils 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.
• The possibility re-opening the airport was first discussed in the mid-1990s by which time Ventspils had become an important transport hub.
• Ventspils International Airport (VNT) currently has only 1 runway.
• At the start of 2001 all documentation for the airport exploitation was prepared and a modern security program was developed.
• On 11 April 2008 Latvian national airline airBaltic began the first regular service from the airport to Riga but ceased after few months due to low patronage.
• The most important result of the activities was the start of operation in 2000 upon receiving the certificate.
• At the time the re-opening of the airport was being considered, people in the Ventspils region and corporate clients who wished to travel by air used the airport at Riga that was 202 km away from Ventspils.
• In addition to being known as "Ventspils International Airport", another name for VNT is "Ventspils Starptautiskā Lidosta".
• The furthest airport from Ventspils International Airport (VNT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,220 miles (18,057 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.