Nonstop flight route between Medina, Saudi Arabia and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), Medina, Saudi Arabia and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,962 miles (or 6,376 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Lajes Air Base, 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Lajes Air Base. 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 Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED):

• The furthest airport from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (meaning Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) has 2 runways.
• On 5 January 2014, a Saudia Boeing 767-300, flight SV2841 from Mashhad, Iran made an emergency landing after one of its main landing gear failed to deploy.
• Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport handled 1,592,000 passengers last year.
• On 16 March 2001, the airport was the scene of a bloody end to the hijacking of a Russian based Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 jet bound from Istanbul to Moscow carrying 162 passengers.
• The closest airport to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) is Yanbu International Airport (YNB), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) WSW of MED.

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Lajes Field also supported U.S.
• In 2009 Lajes provided rescue support of shipping lanes across the Atlantic, a safe haven for medical or mechanical emergency situations in aircraft crossing the Atlantic, and support for the USAF's continuing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• By 1943, the British and American armed forces were allowed basing rights in Portugal, and the Royal Air Force took over Lajes Field as RAF Station Lajes.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• On 14 December 2012 it was announced that personnel at Lajes Field will be reduced in 2014 with a reduction of 400 military personnel and 500 family members.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes 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.
• Lajes Field was one of the two stopover and refueling bases for the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944.