Nonstop flight route between La Paz, Bolivia and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between El Alto International Airport (LPB), La Paz, Bolivia and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,019 miles (or 6,468 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 El Alto International 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 El Alto International 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 El Alto International Airport (LPB):

• The airport is located in the city of El Alto and has served since the first half of the 20th century, but was modernized in the late 1960s, when its runway was lengthened and a new passenger terminal with modern facilities was built.
• El Alto International Airport handled 833,212 passengers last year.
• El Alto International Airport (LPB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "El Alto International Airport", another name for LPB is "Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto".
• El Alto International Airport is an international airport located 8 mi south-west of La Paz, Bolivia.
• The closest airport to El Alto International Airport (LPB) is Apolo Airport (APB), which is located 118 miles (189 kilometers) N of LPB.
• Because of El Alto International Airport's high elevation of 13,325 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LPB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LPB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• On 1 March 1997, the Government of Bolivia entered into a 25-year contract with Airport Group International to operate the three largest airports in Bolivia – El Alto Airport in La Paz, Jorge Wilstermann Airport in Cochabamba and Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz.
• The furthest airport from El Alto International Airport (LPB) is Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), which is nearly antipodal to El Alto International Airport (meaning El Alto International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sanya Phoenix International Airport), and is located 12,236 miles (19,692 kilometers) away in Sanya, Hainan, China.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• 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.
• It was officially opened as an Army Air Corps training center on 17 October 1941, following the arrival of the first military members on 14 June.
• 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 80th FTW mission is to provide combat airpower by producing top quality fighter pilots for the NATO alliance.
• During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• Over the next three decades three training schools were stationed at the base training students in aircraft maintenance, transportation, communication, civil engineering, Aircrew Life Support and field training.
• The Air Force School of Health Care Sciences offered training in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and health-services administration.