Nonstop flight route between Mercury, Nevada, United States and Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from DRA to PDL:
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- About this route
- DRA Airport Information
- PDL Airport Information
- Facts about DRA
- Facts about PDL
- Map of Nearest Airports to DRA
- List of Nearest Airports to DRA
- Map of Furthest Airports from DRA
- List of Furthest Airports from DRA
- Map of Nearest Airports to PDL
- List of Nearest Airports to PDL
- Map of Furthest Airports from PDL
- List of Furthest Airports from PDL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Desert Rock Airport (DRA), Mercury, Nevada, United States and João Paulo II Airport (PDL), Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,755 miles (or 7,652 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 Desert Rock Airport and João Paulo II 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 Desert Rock Airport and João Paulo II Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DRA / KDRA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Mercury, Nevada, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°37'9"N by 116°1'58"W |
Operator/Owner: | Mercury, Nevada |
Airport Type: | United States Department of Energy/Nevada |
Elevation: | 1010 feet (308 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DRA |
More Information: | DRA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PDL / LPPD |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°44'30"N by 25°41'52"W |
Area Served: | Ponta Delgada |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 259 feet (79 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PDL |
More Information: | PDL Maps & Info |
Facts about Desert Rock Airport (DRA):
- The closest airport to Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Creech Air Force Base Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield (1961) Indian Springs Air Force Base (1951) Indian Springs Army Airfield Indian Springs Airport eponyms: Indian Springs, Nevada &Wilbur L. Creech[1] (INS), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of DRA.
- In addition to being known as "Desert Rock Airport", another name for DRA is "NV65".
- The furthest airport from Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,271 miles (18,139 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Desert Rock Airport (DRA) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about João Paulo II Airport (PDL):
- João Paulo II Airport (PDL) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "João Paulo II Airport", another name for PDL is "Aeroporto João Paulo II".
- The furthest airport from João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to João Paulo II Airport (meaning João Paulo II Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,188 miles (19,615 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
- The closest airport to João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) SSE of PDL.
- It has scheduled domestic flights to all islands of the Azores, plus Madeira and the mainland.
- Because of João Paulo II Airport's relatively low elevation of 259 feet, planes can take off or land at João Paulo II 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.
- João Paulo II Airport handled 928,801 passengers last year.