Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Polokwane, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Polokwane International Airport (PTG), Polokwane, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,901 miles (or 12,715 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 Polokwane 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Polokwane 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 Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• 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.
• Physically, Westover is the largest Air Force Reserve base in the United States and will expand significantly over the next decade to further encompass Active and Reserve Component activities of the Navy, Marines, Army, and mainline Air Force functions from installations closed by the Base Realignment and Closure process.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• 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.
• 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.
• Building at the base was constant throughout 1941.
• The first organization at the base was the 10th Signal Platoon in June 1940.
• In 1951 Air Defense Command established an air defense interceptor presence at Westover, its units being assigned to the base in a tenant status until the turnover of the base to the Air Force Reserve in 1974.
• Due to its location, Westover is transitted by many different aircraft.
• 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.

Facts about Polokwane International Airport (PTG):

• In addition to being known as "Polokwane International Airport", another name for PTG is "Gateway International Airport".
• Polokwane International Airport (PTG) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Polokwane International Airport (meaning Polokwane International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,031 miles (19,362 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS), which is located 106 miles (171 kilometers) ESE of PTG.
• Because of Polokwane International Airport's high elevation of 4,076 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PTG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PTG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.