Nonstop flight route between Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,804 miles (or 7,731 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 Gran Canaria Airport and Sheppard 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 Gran Canaria Airport and Sheppard 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 Gran Canaria Airport (LPA):

• The airport opened on 7 April 1930, after King Alfonso XIII signed a royal order announcing that the military air force installations on the Bay of Gando would become a civilian airfield.
• Gran Canaria's main motorway GC1 runs past the airport providing transport links to Las Palmas in the North and to the tourist resorts in the South.
• The closest airport to Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is Tenerife North Airport (TFN), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) WNW of LPA.
• The airport was an official alternative landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle, before the ending of Space Shuttle programme in July 2011.
• In October 1991, the terminal was enlarged with improved facilities so it could handle more passengers.
• In 1919, Frenchman Pierre George Latécoère was granted clearance from the French & Spanish governments to establish an airline route between Toulouse & Casablanca.
• There's currently another terminal under construction on the west of the airport.
• The airport is located in the eastern part of Gran Canaria on the Bay of Gando, 19 km south of center of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and 25 km from the popular tourist areas in the south.
• Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gran Canaria Airport's relatively low elevation of 78 feet, planes can take off or land at Gran Canaria 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 Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to Gran Canaria Airport (meaning Gran Canaria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,221 miles (19,667 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• Gran Canaria Airport handled 9,770,253 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Gran Canaria Airport", another name for LPA is "Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria".
• There is an airbase of the Spanish Air Force to the east of the runways.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a separation center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945.
• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• The 3630th Flying Training Wing also provided undergraduate pilot training for pilots of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force from 1971 to 1975.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941.
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The 80th Flying Training Wing, also at Sheppard, conducts the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, a multi-nationally manned and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for both USAF and NATO.
• Control and accountability for Sheppard Field was transferred to the Department of the Air Force 1 August 1948 and was reactivated 15 August 1948 to supplement Lackland AFB, Texas, as a basic training center renamed as Sheppard AFB.