Nonstop flight route between Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,789 miles (or 7,708 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 Madeira Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Madeira Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Madeira Airport (FNC):

• In 1972, the popularity of visiting the island of Madeira increased, so the runway had to be extended to allow modern and larger aircraft to land.
• Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".
• Madeira Airport, formerly known as Santa Catarina Airport and informally known as Funchal Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Catarina, municipality of Santa Cruz, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Madeira.
• Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.
• Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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.
• The furthest airport from Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• Between 1982 and 1986, Madeira's runway was successfully extended by 200 m to a total of 1,800 m, and also four gates were opened.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.
• The Air Force established a standard wing structure—a dual deputy concept—in 1963.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• Webb Air Force Base, previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in west Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.