Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,087 miles (or 4,967 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 Westover Air Reserve Base 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• The original airfield at Westover consisted of three runways in the standard "A" pattern to accommodate landings in all directions based on wind direction.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the name of Westover Field was changed to Westover Air Force Base on 13 January 1948.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• During World War II Westover saw the training and formation of Airborne engineer aviation battalions to be used for rapidly establishing airfields in forward areas.
• The 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was moved to the base in January 1951 flying F-86A Sabres and assumed an air defense mission, providing air defense in the northeastern United States.
• In 1942 Westover Field was training center for anti-submarine, engineering, chemical platoons, bomber and fighter groups.
• Four-engine C-54 Skymaster and shorter-range C-47 Skytrain transports took supplies and reinforcements from Westover to the armed forces and returned with the wounded and discharged troops.
• On 1 June 1948 Air Transport Command was reorganized into the Military Air Transport Service, and Westover was designated as Headquarters, Atlantic Division, Military Air Transport Service.

Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• Since 2007 the airport has occasionally been used by BBC motoring TV show Top Gear as the location for various stunts and experiments.
• In 1938 passenger facilities were added.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• Today, Ryanair serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.
• On 6 July 2005, Prestwick Airport became the entry point for the participants in the 31st G8 summit held in Gleneagles.
• 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.