Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Great Falls International Airport (GTF), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,804 miles (or 7,731 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 Great Falls International Airport and Bilbao 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 Great Falls International Airport and Bilbao 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 Great Falls International Airport (GTF):

• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 143,811 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 146,438 in 2009 and 155,204 in 2010.
• Great Falls International Airport (GTF) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Great Falls International Airport (GTF) is Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) E of GTF.
• In addition to being known as "Great Falls International Airport", another name for GTF is "(former Great Falls Army Airfield)".
• The furthest airport from Great Falls International Airport (GTF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,498 miles (16,896 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Great Falls has had airline flights since the 1930s.
• AvMax, a Calgary-based large jet maintenance and repair business, opened a large operation at GTF in 2006.

Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
• There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava's design by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed.
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
• After various aeronautic experiments in the province of Biscay, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao.
• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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 addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• In February 2009 plans were announced to expand the terminal building, the facilities and the car parking so as to double the current capacity to 8 million passengers.
• During the eighties, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28.
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier.
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.