Nonstop flight route between Tripoli, Libya and Homestead, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya and Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST), Homestead, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,481 miles (or 8,820 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 Mitiga International Airport and Homestead Air Reserve 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 Mitiga International Airport and Homestead Air Reserve 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 Mitiga International Airport (MJI):

• On 13 March 2011, Ali Atiyya, a colonel of the Libyan Air Force at the airport, defected and joined the anti-Gaddafi forces.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".
• During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the The Times and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protestors opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
• Alitalia and Turkish Airlines also moved back to Tripoli International after it reopened.
• 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.
• Air services to Libya were suspended during the civil war of 2011, airlines have started returning since the situation has stabilised, this included three foreign carriers launching service to Mitiga on a temporary basis, as the main Tripoli International Airport was closed to traffic.

Facts about Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST):

• The closest airport to Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of HST.
• On 15 August 1944 command of Homestead AAF consolidated under the 563d AAF Base Unit.
• – Headquarters, U.S.
• In the early 1950s, as the Korean War was winding down, defense officials once again looked toward Homestead with an eye at making the site a key player in continental defense.
• The furthest airport from Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,568 miles (18,616 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Homestead Air Reserve Base", another name for HST is "Homestead ARB".
• The 379th Bomb Wing was activated at Homestead on 1 November 1955.
• During the Atlantic hurricane season, the 482th Fighter Wing routinely supports forward deployment of the Air Force Reserve's 403rd Wing from Keesler AFB, Mississippi, flying the WC-130 Hercules aircraft in the "Hurricane Hunters" weather reconnaissance mission.
• The 379th BW transferred its B-47s beginning in October 1960 and moved without personnel or equipment to Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan in January 1961.
• Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Air Forces officials decided the site would better serve defense needs as a maintenance stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North Africa.