Nonstop flight route between Gibraltar and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), Gibraltar and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,494 miles (or 8,842 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 Gibraltar International Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB, 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 Gibraltar International Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB. 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 Gibraltar International Airport (GIB):

• In April 2009 Ándalus Líneas Aéreas restored Gibraltar's air link with the Spanish capital.
• On 14 August 2012, Monarch announced it would launch a new route to Birmingham, operating three times a week.
• A new terminal has been constructed at Gibraltar International due to the high number of passengers using it.
• The furthest airport from Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Gibraltar International Airport (meaning Gibraltar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Ceuta Heliport (JCU), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) S of GIB.
• Because of Gibraltar International Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Gibraltar International 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.
• Although located in Gibraltar, the airport is also used by people travelling to or from neighbouring parts of the southern Spain such as the Costa del Sol or the Campo de Gibraltar.
• Gibraltar International Airport handled 383,013 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Gibraltar International Airport", another name for GIB is "(North Front Airport)".
• Since then, Spain successfully excluded Gibraltar from European wide de-regulation initiatives, preventing direct links from Gibraltar to the rest of the European Union, on the grounds that no regulation that somehow recognises the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over the Gibraltar peninsula may be implemented without a previous agreement on the airport.
• By late 2005 and early 2006, the implementation of a new agreement was one of the main topics of the Gibraltar Trilateral Forum being held between the Governments of Gibraltar, Spain and the United Kingdom.
• Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was constructed during World War II upon the territory's race course, when Gibraltar was an important naval base for the British.
• On 18 May 2011, Bmibaby announced that it would launch flights from Gibraltar to East Midlands from 31 March 2012.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
• SeADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the SAGE headquarters combat center came under the 25th Air Division.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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.
• Starting in mid-1943 the training of B-17 and B-24 replacement crews began to be phased out, as the Second Air Force began ramping up training of B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bomb groups, destined for Twentieth Air Force.
• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• Part of Air Mobility Command
• The furthest airport from McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• During 1952 and 1953, the 62nd airlifted troops, blood plasma, aircraft parts, ammunition, medical supplies, and much more, to the Far East, in support of the war in Korea.