Nonstop flight route between Louisville, Kentucky, United States and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bowman Field (LOU), Louisville, Kentucky, United States and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,162 miles (or 6,697 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 Bowman Field and Bilbao 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 Bowman Field and Bilbao 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 Bowman Field (LOU):

• The furthest airport from Bowman Field (LOU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,243 miles (18,093 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Bowman Field (LOU) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Bowman Field (LOU) is Louisville International Airport (SDF), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) SW of LOU.
• Because of Bowman Field's relatively low elevation of 546 feet, planes can take off or land at Bowman Field 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.
• During World War II, Bowman Field was one of the nation's most important training bases as well as the nation's busiest airport.
• Bowman Field is a public airport five miles southeast of downtown Louisville, in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
• The first business ventures began with the aerial photography business in 1921, and the 465th Pursuit Squadron began operations at Bowman Field in 1922.
• During the Great Depression, Louisvillians would often come to the Art Deco terminal building to watch airplanes depart and land as a form of inexpensive entertainment.
• The dominant landmark of Bowman Field is its terminal, known as the Administration Building, styled in aerodynamic Moderne.
• During the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Air Lines, Trans World Airlines and the original Continental Airlines operated passenger and mail service in and out of Bowman Field.

Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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.
• On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz, all passengers and crew died.
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
• In 1940, it was decided by common agreement with the local organisations affected to build a civilian airport in Sondika.
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava's design by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed.
• In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.