Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Madrid, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, United States and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), Madrid, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,003 miles (or 8,051 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1], 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]. 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In May 1923, the War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Ellington Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus.
• 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.
• The Texas National Guard and 36th Infantry Division bought most of the airfield's buildings, but the field remained unused.
• In 1952, Air Training Command expanded the training program at Ellington with the establishment of a multi-engine flying training program as part of Flying Training Air Force.
• World War II, with its increasing need for trained pilots, helped to reestablish Ellington Field as an active facility.
• In addition to being known as "Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field", another name for EFD is "Ellington Field JRB".

Facts about Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD):

• The Madrid–Barcelona air shuttle service, known as the "Puente Aéreo", literally called "Air Bridge", is the second busiest air route in Europe after İstanbul Atatürk and İzmir, with the highest number of flight operations in 2012.
• The airport was constructed in 1927, opening to national and international air traffic on 22 April 1931, although regular commercial operations began two years later.
• The closest airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ENE of MAD.
• The Madrid Metro Line connects the airport with city centre station Nuevos Ministerios in the heart of Madrid's financial district.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) has 4 runways.
• In October 2006, a bid was launched for the construction of a Cercanías link between Chamartín Station and Terminal 4.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] handled 39,729,027 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]", another name for MAD is "Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas".
• In December 2010, the Spanish government announced plans to tender Madrid-Barajas airport to companies in the private sector for a period of up to 40 years.
• The furthest airport from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (meaning Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
• On 27 January 2012, Spanair suspended all flights affecting Madrid-Barajas as well as other domestic and international connections.
• In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations, 4,400 m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas.