Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Flanders, Belgium:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST), Flanders, Belgium would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,552 miles (or 7,326 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 Ostend-Bruges International 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 Ostend-Bruges International 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):

• Estimates of the number of crew members trained at the base during the war vary from 50,000 to 120,000, with as many as 15,000 troops were stationed at MacDill Field at one time.
• 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 host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force.
• In addition MacDill provided transitional training in the B-17 Flying Fortress.
• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• Beginning in January 1944, the 11th Photographic Group used MacDill for its mission of photographic mapping in the US and sent detachments to carry out similar operations in Africa, the CBI theater, the Near and Middle East, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and the Caribbean.
• The 6 AMW also has a collocated "Associate" wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• 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.

Facts about Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST):

• In 1992, the ownership of the regional Flemish airport was transferred from the Belgian State to the Flemish Region.
• Ostend-Bruges International Airport handled 678,638 passengers last year.
• Ostend-Bruges International Airport is located in Ostend, Belgium, near the coast and about 25 km from the city centre of Bruges.
• Because of Ostend-Bruges International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Ostend-Bruges 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.
• The closest airport to Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST) is Dunkerque – Les Moëres Airfield (XDK), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SW of OST.
• Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 1 May 2003, Ryanair started a new route between Ostend and London-Stansted.
• The furthest airport from Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,925 miles (19,192 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.