Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Catania, Sicily, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), Catania, Sicily, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,455 miles (or 8,780 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 MacDill 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 MacDill 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 MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• In addition MacDill provided transitional training in the B-17 Flying Fortress.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the flight operations of MacDill and Drew Fields.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 326th Army Air Forces Base Unit was reorganized into an Army Air Forces separation )unit to process military demobilizations.
• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• It was the B-26 that earned the slogan "one a day in Tampa Bay." The aircraft proved hard to fly and land by many pilots due to its short wings, high landing speeds, and fighter plane maneuverability.

Facts about Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA):

• 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 (CTA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Catania–Fontanarossa Airport handled 6,400,127 passengers last year.
• Catania Airport's history dates back to 1924, when it was the region's very first airport.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.