Nonstop flight route between Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States and Alicante, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States and Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC), Alicante, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,000 miles (or 6,437 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Alicante-Elche 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Alicante-Elche 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA):

• On February 6, 1998 President Bill Clinton signed legislation changing the airport's name from Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, to honor the former president on his 87th birthday.
• Service to the airport's Metro station began in 1977.
• The closest airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), which is located only 1 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of DCA.
• The furthest airport from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On March 23, 2011, the air traffic control supervisor on duty reportedly fell asleep during the night shift.
• Although the need for a better airport was acknowledged in 37 studies conducted between 1926 and 1938, there was a statutory prohibition against federal development of airports.
• In 2013, Reagan National Airport handled 20,415,085 passengers, which was a new record.
• Until 1999, Runways 1/19 and 4/22 were designated 18/36 and 3/21.
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) has 3 runways.
• Because of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Ronald Reagan Washington National 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.

Facts about Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC):

• The closest airport to Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) is Murcia–San Javier Airport (MJV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) SSW of ALC.
• Because of Alicante-Elche Airport's relatively low elevation of 141 feet, planes can take off or land at Alicante-Elche 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 furthest airport from Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) is Gisborne Airport (GIS), which is nearly antipodal to Alicante-Elche Airport (meaning Alicante-Elche Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gisborne Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,881 kilometers) away in Gisborne, New Zealand.
• The terminal has an area of 333,500 m2, which is more than six times the size of terminals 1 and 2 together.
• Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Alicante-Elche Airport", other names for ALC include "Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche" and "Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx".
• In 2011, the new terminal was opened at the airport increasing the annual airport capacity to 20 million passengers per year.
• The New Terminal is the only terminal currently in service.
• New car parking was opened in 2011 together with the new terminal.