Nonstop flight route between Midland, Texas, United States and Shannon (County Clare), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield (MAF), Midland, Texas, United States and Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,626 miles (or 7,445 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 Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield and Shannon 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 Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield and Shannon 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 Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield (MAF):

• Midland Army Air Field was home to the Army Air Forces Bombardier School, one of a dozen bombardier-training schools.
• Prominent businessmen in Midland could foresee the possibility of a military base in West Texas and in 1940 they started promoting the airport for use as a training base to the military establishment in Washington.
• By the 1990s several of the new-entrant carriers had pulled out and most of the remaining airlines had downgraded to regional jets.
• The terminal building looked tired, and airport officials began planning for a replacement.
• The closest airport to Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield (MAF) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of MAF.
• Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield (MAF) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Midland International AirportMidland Army Airfield (MAF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,209 miles (18,038 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Shannon Airport (SNN):

• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• Shannon continued to expand during the Celtic Tiger years with many services operated to the US and Canada.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• In 1936, the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a 3.1 km2 site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Aer Arann launched services to 4 UK destinations in 2010 under the Aer Lingus Regional Banner.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.