Nonstop flight route between Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland and Del Rio, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kerry Airport (KIR), Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland and Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF), Del Rio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,694 miles (or 7,554 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 Kerry Airport and Laughlin Air Force Base, 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 Kerry Airport and Laughlin Air Force Base. 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 Kerry Airport (KIR):

• Kerry Airport handled 272,799 passengers last year.
• An airport bus terminal opened in January 2006 which has hourly bus service to Cork, Limerick, Tralee and Killarney.
• The closest airport to Kerry Airport (KIR) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) S of KIR.
• On 25 August 1969 the first aircraft to land at Kerry Airport was piloted by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport & Power.
• In January 2011, it was announced that 20 of the airport's 65 staff would be made redundant due to a fall in passenger numbers following Ryanair's withdrawal from its PSO contract.
• The airport is a public limited company but not quoted on any stock exchange.
• In addition to being known as "Kerry Airport", another name for KIR is "Aerfort Chiarraí".
• The furthest airport from Kerry Airport (KIR) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Kerry Airport (meaning Kerry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,057 miles (19,403 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Kerry Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Kerry 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.
• Kerry Airport (KIR) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF):

• The residential area of the base is a census-designated place, with a population of 1,569 at the 2010 census.
• Laughlin U-2s were among the first to provide photographic evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962 when 4080th U-2 pilot Major Steve Heyser flew his U-2C over Cuba after taking off from Edwards AFB, California.
• Another 4080th pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., perished when his U-2 was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet-made SA-2 on October 22, 1962 while overflying Cuba from McCoy AFB.
• The furthest airport from Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,091 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Del Rio International Airport (DRT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DLF.
• The median income for a household on the base was $38,625, and the median income for a family was $38,625.
• The Air Force transferred jurisdiction of the base to the Strategic Air Command on April 1, 1957 and the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing moved there from Turner Air Force Base, Georgia.