Nonstop flight route between Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Ceuta, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Ceuta Heliport (JCU), Ceuta, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,333 miles (or 6,974 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 Patrick Air Force Base and Ceuta Heliport, 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 Patrick Air Force Base and Ceuta Heliport. 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 Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• The Air Force Technical Applications Center is a tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB.
• Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on October 1, 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command NAS Jacksonville, Florida.
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• Five of the victims of the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996 were home stationed at Patrick AFB as part of the 71st Rescue Squadron.
• NAS Banana River closed in September 1947 after a gradual deactivation and was placed in a caretaker status.
• Cost comparison studies done in the early 1950s pointed out the desirability of letting contractors operate the station.

Facts about Ceuta Heliport (JCU):

• The closest airport to Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) N of JCU.
• Because of Ceuta Heliport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Ceuta Heliport 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 furthest airport from Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Ceuta Heliport (meaning Ceuta Heliport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,982 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Since 9 January 2004, it has been possible to fly to Ceuta from Málaga by helicopter.
• In its second year of operation, the heliport served 20,233 passengers, handled 2,656 operations and 4.6 tonnes of cargo.
• Ceuta Heliport handled 5,673 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Ceuta Heliport", another name for JCU is "Helipuerto de Ceuta".
• The heliport is situated in the port of Ceuta, between the cargo dock and the fishing port, on land reclaimed from the sea in the north of the city.
• Ceuta Heliport is the heliport, and only air transport facility, serving the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, in North Africa.