Nonstop flight route between Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Gomera Airport (GMZ), Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,390 miles (or 5,455 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 La Gomera Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 La Gomera Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 La Gomera Airport (GMZ):

• The closest airport to La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Tenerife-South Airport (TFS), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) E of GMZ.
• In addition to being known as "La Gomera Airport", another name for GMZ is "La Gomera Airport ODB".
• The furthest airport from La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to La Gomera Airport (meaning La Gomera Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,116 miles (19,499 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• Because of La Gomera Airport's relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at La Gomera 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.
• In the next chart, the evolution of passengers traffic by year is indicated.
• Finally, in the 1980s, problems with wounded evacuations necessitated building an airport in the island, and on 27 July 1987 an agreement for the construction of the airport was signed.
• La Gomera Airport (GMZ) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• The Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
• Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.