Nonstop flight route between Fort Rucker, Dale County, Alabama, United States and Plovdiv, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY), Fort Rucker, Dale County, Alabama, United States and Plovdiv Airport (PDV), Plovdiv, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,717 miles (or 9,201 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) and Plovdiv 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) and Plovdiv 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY):

• In addition to being known as "Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP)", other names for HEY include "Hanchey Army Heliport" and "Fort Rucker".
• Because of Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP)'s relatively low elevation of 317 feet, planes can take off or land at Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) 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.
• Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) is Lowe Army Heliport (AHP) (LOR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) W of HEY.
• The furthest airport from Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,218 miles (18,054 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Plovdiv Airport (PDV):

• Plovdiv airport serves the nearby ski resorts of Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets, and therefore serves mainly charter flights, during the winter season from the end of December until March.
• The furthest airport from Plovdiv Airport (PDV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,355 miles (18,273 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On the west side of the airport is located 24th Helicopter Air Base of the Bulgarian Air Force, with Eurocopter AS 532, Mil Mi-24, Mil Mi-17 and Bell 206 units.
• Plovdiv Airport handled 8,752 passengers last year.
• On 18 December 1982 the first aircraft TU-134 arrived, a charter flight from Amsterdam, the beginning of a new era for Plovdiv Airport.
• The beginning of civil aviation at Plovdiv came with the first test flight between Sofia-Plovdiv-Yambol and Burgas early in 1928.
• In addition to being known as "Plovdiv Airport", other names for PDV include "Krumovo Airport" and "Летище Пловдив".
• On 13 September 1965 a new terminal building was opened, and next year an enlarged tarmac was put into use in time for winter season charter traffic.
• In the 70s the airport underwent considerable improvement and cargo airline Aeroflot Cargo began regular operation with IL-18, AN-12 and TU-154.
• Because of Plovdiv Airport's relatively low elevation of 597 feet, planes can take off or land at Plovdiv 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 Plovdiv Airport (PDV) is Haskovo Malevo Airport (HKV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) E of PDV.
• On 2 May 1962 the airport operations moved to the Graf Ignatievo Airbase north of the city.
• Plovdiv Airport (PDV) currently has only 1 runway.