Nonstop flight route between Leeuwarden, Netherlands and Tripoli, Libya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR), Leeuwarden, Netherlands and Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,453 miles (or 2,338 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 relatively short distance between Leeuwarden Air Base and Mitiga International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR):

• The airport is the location of the annual NATO exercise "Frisian Flag", and the Fighter Weapons Instructor Training.
• In 2016 a squadron of MQ-9 Reapers will be based at Leeuwarden Air Base to be fully operational as of 2017.
• The closest airport to Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of LWR.
• Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Leeuwarden Air Base", another name for LWR is "Vliegbasis Leeuwarden".
• Because of Leeuwarden Air Base's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at Leeuwarden Air Base 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 Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,778 miles (18,955 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Mitiga International Airport (MJI):

• The closest airport to Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Tripoli International Airport (TIP), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MJI.
• The fourteen-hour 9,300-kilometre round trip to Libya required numerous in-air refuelings, because countries closer to Libya – Spain, Italy, France, and Greece – had refused American planes permission to fly over or from bases in their countries.
• LPAF Soviet-made MiG-17/19/25 fighters and Tu-22 bombers were based at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".
• On 13 March 2011, Ali Atiyya, a colonel of the Libyan Air Force at the airport, defected and joined the anti-Gaddafi forces.
• Of these Tunisair suspended flights to the airport due to a major security lapse, endangering crew and passengers onboard one of their aircraft, they have now resumed service to Tripoli International.
• The furthest airport from Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Rarotonga International Airport (RAR), which is located 11,524 miles (18,546 kilometers) away in Avarua, Cook Islands.
• Because of Mitiga International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Mitiga International 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.
• After the USAF left, Wheelus became a Libyan People's Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• On 21 August 2011, rebels launched an assault on Mitiga as part of a bid to battle loyalist forces in Tripoli, sustaining a number of casualties in the process