Nonstop flight route between Beja, Portugal and Homestead, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beja Airport (BYJ), Beja, Portugal and Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST), Homestead, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,238 miles (or 6,820 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 Beja Airport and Homestead Air Reserve Base, 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 Beja Airport and Homestead Air Reserve Base. 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 Beja Airport (BYJ):

• In spite of being the only Portuguese airport in Alentejo—the biggest Portuguese region, with an area comparable to the size of Belgium—the airport failed to attract the attention of low-cost carriers and has never had any scheduled regular flights.
• An airbase was established on 21 October 1964, originally built to serve as a training facility for the West German Air Force, due to airspace limitations within West Germany.
• The furthest airport from Beja Airport (BYJ) is New Plymouth Airport (NPL), which is nearly antipodal to Beja Airport (meaning Beja Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from New Plymouth Airport), and is located 12,306 miles (19,804 kilometers) away in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Beja Airport", another name for BYJ is "Aeroporto de Beja".
• The closest airport to Beja Airport (BYJ) is Portimão Airport (PRM), which is located 73 miles (118 kilometers) SSW of BYJ.
• Because of Beja Airport's relatively low elevation of 636 feet, planes can take off or land at Beja 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.
• Beja Airport (BYJ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST):

• The closest airport to Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of HST.
• The 482th Fighter Wing is part of the Air Force Reserve Command and Tenth Air Force and functions as the host wing for the installation.
• On 25 October 1945, following an evaluation of the damage caused by the storm, officials announced that Homestead AAF would shut down, with a target date for complete closure of December 1945.
• Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Air Forces officials decided the site would better serve defense needs as a maintenance stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Homestead Air Reserve Base", another name for HST is "Homestead ARB".
• The furthest airport from Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,568 miles (18,616 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Beginning in mid 1957, the wing deployed aircraft, crews, and support personnel to North African bases under the REFLEX ACTION program.