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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY), Fort Rucker, Dale County, Alabama, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,631 miles (or 9,063 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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):

• Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The infrastructure surrounding the building was expected to be completed in 2007.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• On 19 August 2011 in the presence of Ivaylo Moskovski, minister of transport, information technology and communications, the BULATSA director general Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy AD chief executive director Pavel Kalistratov and Glavbolgarstroy AD executive director and management board member Nina Stoyanova signed the design execution and construction contract between BULATSA and Glavbolgarstroy AD for the new control tower at Sofia Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The construction of the new Sofia tower is related to the reconstruction and development of Sofia Airport and is the natural extension of the development of the airport complex.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.