Nonstop flight route between Gweru, Zimbabwe and Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from GWE to ORF:
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- About this route
- GWE Airport Information
- ORF Airport Information
- Facts about GWE
- Facts about ORF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWE
- List of Nearest Airports to GWE
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWE
- List of Furthest Airports from GWE
- Map of Nearest Airports to ORF
- List of Nearest Airports to ORF
- Map of Furthest Airports from ORF
- List of Furthest Airports from ORF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe and Norfolk International Airport (ORF), Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,884 miles (or 12,688 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Norfolk International 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Norfolk International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWE / FVTL |
Airport Name: | Gweru-Thornhill Air Base |
Location: | Gweru, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°26'11"S by 29°51'42"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 4680 feet (1,426 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GWE |
More Information: | GWE Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ORF / KORF |
Airport Name: | Norfolk International Airport |
Location: | Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°53'40"N by 76°12'3"W |
Area Served: | Norfolk, Virginia |
Operator/Owner: | City of Norfolk |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 27 feet (8 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from ORF |
More Information: | ORF Maps & Info |
Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):
- Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
Facts about Norfolk International Airport (ORF):
- The furthest airport from Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,769 miles (18,940 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- General aviation services, or fixed based operations, are provided by Landmark Aviation with full-service facilities for maintaining and housing private and corporate aircraft.
- Because of Norfolk International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Norfolk 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.
- In the 1960s, the transition from propeller driven aircraft to jets gathered full steam.
- Approximately 70 million pounds of air cargo are presently shipped in and out of Norfolk International Airport each year.
- In 2012, Norfolk Airport served 3,299,728 total passengers, a 3.33 percent increase compared to the previous year, which saw a total passenger count of 3,193,388.
- Norfolk International Airport (ORF) has 2 runways.
- The airport's largest capital improvement project, Arrival 2002, was completed in June 2002.
- As the troops returned from the war, the Army Air Corps returned the airport to the city's domain at the end of 1945, and commercial travel took off with two new airlines providing regular flights.
- The closest airport to Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is Naval Station Norfolk (NGU), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) WNW of ORF.
- In 1950, responsibility for the airport was turned over to the newly established Norfolk Port and Industrial Authority which could proudly call Norfolk Municipal Airport one of the finest in the nation and one of the busiest.