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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya and Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,476 miles (or 8,813 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 Lakeland Linder Regional 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 Mitiga International Airport and Lakeland Linder Regional 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 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.
• 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.
• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• After 1970, the facility was known as Okba Ben Nafi Air Base, a Libyan People's Air Force installation.
• Mitiga International Airport is an airport in Libya, located about 8 kilometres east of Tripoli's city center that was established in 1995.
• 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.
• After the USAF left, Wheelus became a Libyan People's Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".
• On 21 August 2011, rebels launched an assault on Mitiga as part of a bid to battle loyalist forces in Tripoli, sustaining a number of casualties in the process
• Alitalia and Turkish Airlines also moved back to Tripoli International after it reopened.
• The closest airport to Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Tripoli International Airport (TIP), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MJI.

Facts about Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL):

• The main terminal building contains the airport administrative offices, a conference facility, a fixed-base operator and an aviation-themed restaurant, Hallback's Bar & Grill located on the terminal's second floor.
• The furthest airport from Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 142 feet, planes can take off or land at Lakeland Linder Regional 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 Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) is Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of LAL.
• From the 1970s until 1999, the airfield operated as a joint civil-military facility when it hosted Army Aviation Support Facility #2 of the Florida Army National Guard, operating since-retired UH-1 Huey helicopters, followed by locally-based UH-60L Blackhawk helicopters of Detachment D, 171st Aviation Battalion and C-23B+ Sherpa fixed-wing cargo aircraft of Detachment 1, H/171st Aviation Battalion.
• Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) has 2 runways.
• The city had barely begun work on the new airport when, with war already raging in Europe, it leased the facility to the War Department.
• Design of the current 2½ story airside/landside terminal was begun in 1997, with construction comencing in 2000 and completed in late 2001.
• In addition to being known as "Lakeland Linder Regional Airport", another name for LAL is "Drane Field".
• The airport possesses a Federal Aviation Regulations Part 139 operating certificate entitling it to conduct commercial passenger aircraft operations and the current terminal facility, which opened in late 2001, was designed to enable it to conduct airline operations with minimal modifications.