Nonstop flight route between Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Las Cruces International Airport (LRU), Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,351 miles (or 8,611 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 Las Cruces International Airport 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 Las Cruces International Airport 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 Las Cruces International Airport (LRU):

• Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) has 3 runways.
• Because of Las Cruces International Airport's high elevation of 4,457 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LRU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LRU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,383 miles (18,319 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The airport is used by general aviation, the United States government, New Mexico State University, private charters and the local CAP squadron.
• The closest airport to Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) is Biggs Army Airfield (BIF), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SE of LRU.

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.
• In 1996, a new taxiway with two rapid exits and a new aircraft parking apron were built.
• With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity.
• After various aeronautic experiments in the province of Biscay, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao.
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• 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.
• Between 1964 and 1965, an instrumental ILS landing system and a meteorological radio for storm detection were installed.