Nonstop flight route between Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia and Bossier City, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX), Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia and Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,006 miles (or 12,884 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 Alula Aba Nega Airport and Barksdale 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 Alula Aba Nega Airport and Barksdale 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 Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX):

• Alula Aba Nega Airport handled 112,060 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Alula Aba Nega Airport", another name for MQX is "አሉላ አባ ነጋ ዓለም አቀፍ የአየር ማረፊያ".
• Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Alula Aba Nega Airport's high elevation of 7,406 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MQX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MQX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) NW of MQX.
• The furthest airport from Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX) is Fangatau Airport (FGU), which is nearly antipodal to Alula Aba Nega Airport (meaning Alula Aba Nega Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fangatau Airport), and is located 12,272 miles (19,750 kilometers) away in Fangatau, French Polynesia.

Facts about Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.
• Barksdale was developed as an Air Corps flying school November 1940 and the runway apron was completed mid-1941.
• The 47th Bomb Wing was assigned to NATO and was reassigned first to Langley AFB in March 1951, then afterwards to RAF Sculthorpe, England, arriving in the UK on 1 May 1951.
• Airships were still in use when field construction began, so Hangars One and Two were built large enough to accommodate them.
• The base is closed to the public.
• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• Barksdale Field was named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale on 2 February 1933.
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The 2d Bomb Wing conducts the primary mission of Barksdale AFB with three squadrons of B-52H Stratofortress bombers – the 11th Bomb Squadron, which is the training squadron, the 20th Bomb Squadron and the 96th Bomb Squadron.
• Construction of Barksdale Field began in 1931, when hangars, runways, and billets were built.
• In the postwar year of the 1940s, Barksdale then became headquarters for the Air Training Command from 1945 to 1949.