Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Lugano, Agno, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, United States and Lugano Airport (LUG), Lugano, Agno, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,386 miles (or 8,669 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field and Lugano 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field and Lugano 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 Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD):

• Navigation training was enhanced at Ellington when the Air Force installed a microwave navigation system.
• Several years later in 1927, Ellington's status was again threatened as local city leaders began to discuss the construction of a municipal airport.
• Though the 111th Observation Squadron had the excess World War I storage and maintenance facilities at Ellington Field, the squadron did not have a true headquarters building.
• In addition to being known as "Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field", another name for EFD is "Ellington Field JRB".
• The furthest airport from Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,008 miles (17,716 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The $80 million construction project includes a 40,000-square-foot Battle Command Training Center, which simulates war conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan., a second Armed Forces Reserve Center with an assembly hall and offices, a Welcome Center, which will handle retention, recruitment and military identification services.
• Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the aegis of the nearby Johnson Space Center.
• The base, which consisted of a few hangars and some wooden headquarters buildings, was completed in a matter of months.
• The closest airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of EFD.

Facts about Lugano Airport (LUG):

• The furthest airport from Lugano Airport (LUG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lugano Airport (meaning Lugano Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,134 miles (19,527 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport's instrument approach procedure is quite challenging because of its steep angle of descent of 6.65°, more than double of the standard approach angle of 3°.
• In addition to being known as "Lugano Airport", another name for LUG is "Aeroporto di Lugano".
• Because of Lugano Airport's relatively low elevation of 915 feet, planes can take off or land at Lugano 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.
• A shuttle bus connects the airport with Lugano railway station and city centre, meeting most scheduled flights.
• Lugano Airport (LUG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lugano Airport (LUG) is Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of LUG.
• The current location of the airport dates back to 1938, when it opened as a grass field.
• An adjacent building to the terminal building houses the ground side airport restaurant and flying club, with outdoor seating under an awning between the two buildings.