Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Arkansas, United States and Catania, Sicily, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF), Jacksonville, Arkansas, United States and Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), Catania, Sicily, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,600 miles (or 9,012 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 Little Rock Air Force Base and Catania–Fontanarossa 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 Little Rock Air Force Base and Catania–Fontanarossa 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 Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF):

• On 1 January 1976, the 189 TRG transferred being a TAC-gained unit to a SAC-gained unit when it converted to the KC-135 Stratotanker and was redesignated the 189th Air Refueling Group, becoming one of the first Air National Guard units to be assigned to Strategic Air Command with a concomitant requirement to maintain a 24-hour alert force at Little Rock as well as deployments to support worldwide tanker task forces.
• In addition to being known as "Little Rock Air Force Base", another name for LRF is "Little Rock AFB".
• The furthest airport from Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,887 miles (17,521 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF) is Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of LRF.
• In 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Little Rock base to mark the second anniversary of the Let's Move initiative.
• Construction of Little Rock Air Force Base began on 6 November 1953 and the base was officially activated by Strategic Air Command on 1 August 1955, hosting SAC's 384th Bombardment Wing flying the Boeing B-47E Stratojet and the 70th Reconnaissance Wing flying the RB-47 Stratojet and KC-97 Stratotanker.

Facts about Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA):

• The closest airport to Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) is Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) WSW of CTA.
• Catania Airport's history dates back to 1924, when it was the region's very first airport.
• In addition to being known as "Catania–Fontanarossa Airport", other names for CTA include "Catania Vincenzo Bellini Airport" and "Aeroporto di Catania-Fontanarossa".
• Because of Catania–Fontanarossa Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Catania–Fontanarossa 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 Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,692 miles (18,816 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Catania–Fontanarossa Airport handled 6,400,127 passengers last year.
• The airport is conveniently located close to the A19 motorway, which links Catania with Palermo and central Sicily, while the European route E45 runs to Syracuse in the south.
• Ryanair started to fly to Catania in 2013 but announced only one route to Catania while also starting operations with 3 routes to Comiso Airport, a newly opened in 2013 Airport only a few km to the south of Catania.
• Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) currently has only 1 runway.