Nonstop flight route between Luqa, Malta and San Bernardino, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malta International Airport (MLA), Luqa, Malta and Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,687 miles (or 10,762 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 Malta International Airport and Norton Air Force 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 Malta International Airport and Norton Air Force 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 Malta International Airport (MLA):

• Air traffic constantly increased and new airlines with larger aircraft started operations.
• The following routes pass through the airport, but are not express services.
• Malta International Airport (MLA) has 2 runways.
• The first civil airfield was constructed at Ta' Qali, followed by others at Ħal Far and Luqa.
• The closest airport to Malta International Airport (MLA) is Xewkija / Gozo Heliport (GZM), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NW of MLA.
• Arriva Malta buses serve the airport.
• The head office of Medavia is on the airport property.
• The furthest airport from Malta International Airport (MLA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Malta International Airport", other names for MLA include "Luqa Airport" and "Valletta Airport".
• The airport car parking has considerably increased during 2009.
• Malta International Airport handled 405,200 passengers last year.
• Because of Malta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Malta 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.
• There was a small increase in the volume of traffic that passed through Malta International Airport in 2011.

Facts about Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-lift transport facility for a variety of military aircraft, equipment and supplies as part of Air Materiel/Air Force Logistics Command, then as part of Military Airlift/Air Mobility Command.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• A base railroad system interchanged with the Pacific Electric/Southern Pacific branch line on the south side of the installation.
• The SAGE Direction Center closed in 1966 along with the other ADC facilities at Norton.
• A change of mission in 1966 from Air Force Logistics Command to Military Airlift Command meant that Norton became one of six Military Airlift Command strategic-airlift bases, supporting US Army and Marine Corps' airlift requirements among other functions.
• Recently, private development on the former base has helped turn the basically unused land into jobs and revenue for the city of San Bernardino as several companies have opened distribution centers on the property.
• With the air force moving into the jet age in the late 1940s, Norton began overhauling jet engines in 1951, and the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area became one of three air force jet overhaul centers by 1953.
• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.
• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.