Nonstop flight route between Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States and Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BIF to PIK:
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- About this route
- BIF Airport Information
- PIK Airport Information
- Facts about BIF
- Facts about PIK
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIF
- List of Nearest Airports to BIF
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIF
- List of Furthest Airports from BIF
- Map of Nearest Airports to PIK
- List of Nearest Airports to PIK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PIK
- List of Furthest Airports from PIK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Biggs Army Airfield (BIF), Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,859 miles (or 7,820 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 Biggs Army Airfield and Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Biggs Army Airfield and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIF / KBIF |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 31°50'57"N by 106°22'47"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 3946 feet (1,203 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BIF |
| More Information: | BIF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | PIK / EGPK |
| Airport Name: | Glasgow-Prestwick Airport |
| Location: | Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 55°30'33"N by 4°35'39"W |
| Area Served: | Glasgow, Prestwick, Strathclyde, Scotland |
| Operator/Owner: | Scottish Government |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 65 feet (20 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from PIK |
| More Information: | PIK Maps & Info |
Facts about Biggs Army Airfield (BIF):
- In addition to being known as "Biggs Army Airfield", another name for BIF is "Biggs Air Force BaseBiggs Field".
- Between the two World Wars, Biggs served as a refueling stop for transient aircraft.
- The 97th operated B-29s from Biggs, and participated in numerous exercises, operational readiness inspections, and overseas deployments.
- In April 1943, the airfield came under the command of the Second Air Force and became headquarters for the XX Bomber Command.
- Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) currently has only 1 runway.
- With World War II imminent, a massive construction effort was begun at Biggs Army Airfield between 1942–1945.
- The furthest airport from Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,387 miles (18,325 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Along with the B-50-equipped 97th Bomb Wing, Strategic Air Command established the 95th Bombardment Wing at Biggs in June 1952 and planned to base its heavy B-36 Peacemaker heavy bomber at the base.
- In 1920 Camp Owen Bierne opened on the site of the current airbase as a base for airship operations but the units were soon disbanded.
- The closest airport to Biggs Army Airfield (BIF) is El Paso International Airport (ELP), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) S of BIF.
- Biggs Field is now the home of the United States Army 1st Armored Division.
Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):
- Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
- On 8 March 2012 the airport owner Infratil announced that they had placed the airfield up for sale.
- The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
- 1992 marked the beginning of a renaissance for the struggling airport when purchased by "Canadian entrepreneur" Matthew Hudson in a "dramatic rescue".
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport is considered to be the only piece of United Kingdom territory on which Elvis Presley ever set foot, when the United States Army transport plane carrying him home stopped to refuel in 1960, en route from Germany.
- Today, Ryanair serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.
- Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
- Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
- After British Airways had ceased regular passenger operations in 1983, BA continued to intermittently use Prestwick as a site for pilot training, especially for training Concorde pilots.
- The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
- The United States Air Force operated a base in 1952 on the site of the original airport using former Royal Air Force facilities 1631st Air Base Squadron), and in 1953 on the Monkton side of the airport, both used by the USAF MATS.
