Nonstop flight route between Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,244 miles (or 8,439 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 Hickory Regional Airport 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 Hickory Regional Airport 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 Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):

• While not currently served by any commercial airline, the Hickory Regional Airport has had such service for much of its history.
• Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
• Local officials hope to attract future commercial airline service, despite challenges caused by the relatively close proximity of the large Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
• Shortly thereafter, the runway which came to be designated 6/24 was lengthened and both of the existing runways were paved.
• Hickory Fire Department staffs an ARFF Fire apparatus at the airport 24/7, Engine 4 responds to all aircraft accidents and emergencies at the airport.
• The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
• After the airline deregulation of the late 1970s, the nature of commercial service would change for Hickory.
• The furthest airport from Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,494 miles (18,499 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 2003, a new building was constructed to serve the general aviation community.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The VIP terminal is located in the western wing of Terminal 1 and has an entrance of its own, providing an access to four separate rooms – one main room and two separated rooms with about 20 seats each.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• Options for different airport developments began to be examined in the mid-1960s.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• 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.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• By the late 1970s, the terminal was handling in the region of three million passengers a year, a million of them on domestic routes.
• 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.