Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Tirana, Albania:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA), Tirana, Albania would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,518 miles (or 10,490 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 Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa, 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 Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa. 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):

• With the end of the war, Fourth Air Force relinquished command of Muroc Army Airfield on 16 October 1945 and jurisdiction was transferred to Air Technical Service Command, becoming Air Materiel Command in 1946.
• 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.
• Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
• 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 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.
• As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the actual flight test work on the P-59 was conducted by the contractor.
• 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.

Facts about Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA):

• Because of Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa 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.
• Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza is Albania's only international airport.
• Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza was constructed in a period of two years, from 1955 to 1957.
• Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa handled 1,665,331 passengers last year.
• After the fall of communism political and social changes caused an increase in the number of airlines operating at the airport.
• The closest airport to Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) is Ohrid Airport (OHD), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) ESE of TIA.
• In addition to being known as "Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa", another name for TIA is "Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza".
• Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,599 miles (18,667 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.