Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX), Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,781 miles (or 14,132 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 Edwards Air Force Base and Alula Aba Nega 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 Edwards Air Force Base and Alula Aba Nega 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 Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• Jurisdiction of Edwards AFB was transferred from Air Materiel Command on 2 April 1951 to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
• There are a vast array of organizations at Edwards that do not fall under the 412th Test Wing.
• The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
• It is the home of the Air Force Test Center and is the Air Force Materiel Command center of excellence for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.
• The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.

Facts about Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX):

• The airport resides at an elevation of 7,406 feet above mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Alula Aba Nega Airport", another name for MQX is "አሉላ አባ ነጋ ዓለም አቀፍ የአየር ማረፊያ".
• Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Alula Aba Nega Airport, also known as Mek'ele Airport, is an airport serving Mek'ele, the capital city of the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia.
• Alula Aba Nega Airport handled 112,060 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) NW of MQX.
• The furthest airport from Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Fangatau Airport (FGU), which is nearly antipodal to Alula Aba Nega Airport (meaning Alula Aba Nega Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fangatau Airport), and is located 12,272 miles (19,750 kilometers) away in Fangatau, French Polynesia.
• Because of Alula Aba Nega Airport's high elevation of 7,406 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MQX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MQX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.