Nonstop flight route between Lelystad, Netherlands and Shafter, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lelystad Airport (LEY), Lelystad, Netherlands and Shafter Airport (MIT), Shafter, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,510 miles (or 8,867 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 Lelystad Airport and Shafter 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 Lelystad Airport and Shafter 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 Lelystad Airport (LEY):

• As Lelystad is the biggest General Aviation airfield in the Netherlands, AOPA is concerned that commercial aviation will have a negative impact on the General Aviation users, and has proposed the construction of a new parallel runway south of the airport to improve traffic flow.
• Lelystad Airport (LEY) has 2 runways.
• Because of Lelystad Airport's relatively low elevation of -12 feet, planes can take off or land at Lelystad 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.
• An expansion of the airport is planned which would allow mainly budget airlines, holiday charters and regional airlines using aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 series to operate from Lelystad.
• The furthest airport from Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,832 miles (19,042 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of LEY.
• At first Lelystad had grass taxi- and runways, but it was found that the clay could not support all the traffic, and tracks started to form.

Facts about Shafter Airport (MIT):

• In addition to being known as "Shafter Airport", another name for MIT is "Minter Field".
• Because of Shafter Airport's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Shafter 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 furthest airport from Shafter Airport (MIT) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,404 miles (18,353 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Shafter Airport (MIT) is Meadows Field (BFL), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ESE of MIT.
• The primary aircraft flown at Minter Field was the Vultee BT-13 Valiant, which was used for basic flight training.
• Lerdo Field, as the airport was initially known during World War II was first opened in June 1941 when the United States Army Air Corps dispatched a small garrison of airmen to open an airfield at Shafter.
• For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2011, the airport had 45,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 123 per day.
• Shafter Airport (MIT) has 2 runways.