Nonstop flight route between Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Strandhill (near Sligo), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Sligo Airport (SXL), Strandhill (near Sligo), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,599 miles (or 5,792 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 Sligo 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 Hickory Regional Airport and Sligo 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 Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):

• After the airline deregulation of the late 1970s, the nature of commercial service would change for Hickory.
• In 1960, the base of operations for the airport was moved from the south side of the field when the new terminal building was constructed.
• Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
• Riverhawk Aviation, which was the airport's only FBO, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
• 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.
• Shortly thereafter, the runway which came to be designated 6/24 was lengthened and both of the existing runways were paved.
• On August 2, 1941, Pennsylvania Central Airlines which later became Capital Airlines, brought the first scheduled air-carrier service to Hickory.
• The Hickory Municipal Airport was first opened to aircraft traffic on May 17, 1940.
• Atlantis Airlines was one small airline of this type, offering up to 6 daily direct flights to Charlotte and Atlanta.

Facts about Sligo Airport (SXL):

• Because of Sligo Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Sligo 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.
• Sligo Airport is located in Strandhill, County Sligo, 5 NM west of Sligo in Ireland.
• The Irish Government commissioned Value for Money Review of Exchequer Funding on the Regional Airports Programme recommended the ending of operational subvention to the airport and the ending of the PSO designation citing poor performance, growing operational costs and development of alternative transport connections to the region.
• The furthest airport from Sligo Airport (SXL) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,907 miles (19,162 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Sligo Airport (SXL) is Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of SXL.
• Sligo Airport (SXL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Sligo Airport", another name for SXL is "Aerfort Shligigh".