Nonstop flight route between Glendale, Arizona, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), Glendale, Arizona, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,474 miles (or 10,419 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF):

• The 56th FW is composed of four groups, 27 squadrons, including six training squadrons.
• In addition to being known as "Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field", another name for LUF is "Luke AFB".
• The closest airport to Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) S of LUF.
• Although continually modified during the war years, the course of advanced flight training at Luke averaged about 10 weeks and included both flight training and ground school.
• For several years, the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project at Sandia Base, New Mexico, had provided all atomic, biological, and chemical warfare training for the Air Force.
• The host unit, the 56th Fighter Wing, is tasked to train F-16 fighter pilots and maintainers, while deploying mission ready warfighters.
• During World War II, Luke Field was the largest fighter training base in the Army Air Forces, graduating more than 12,000 fighter pilots from advanced and operational courses earning the nickname, “Home of the Fighter Pilot.”
• Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I in the skies over France.
• The furthest airport from Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,426 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The infrastructure surrounding the building was expected to be completed in 2007.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• Two de-icing platforms are constructed to allow centralised de-icing procedures in winter.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.