Nonstop flight route between Bilbao, Spain and Minden, Nevada, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain and Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV), Minden, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,517 miles (or 8,879 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 Bilbao Airport and Minden-Tahoe 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 Bilbao Airport and Minden-Tahoe 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 Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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.
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• Bilbao Airport is a public airport located 9 km north of Bilbao, in the municipality of Loiu, in Biscay.
• The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier.
• On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz, all passengers and crew died.
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity.
• In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• During the eighties, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.

Facts about Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV):

• Because of Minden-Tahoe Airport's high elevation of 4,722 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MEV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MEV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Gliders are usually towed to altitudes of 1,000 to 2,000 ft over the airport, and they are often able to make out and return flights to the White Mountains, Owens Valley, and Eastern Nevada, often covering distances of over 500 mi.
• Minden-Tahoe Airport is the base for the "Introduction to Soaring" tutorial mission supplied with Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
• The furthest airport from Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,200 miles (18,025 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV) is Carson Airport (CSN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) N of MEV.
• Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV) has 3 runways.
• The airport is currently undergoing an expansion plan where glider operations will be moved to the East Side of the airport.