Nonstop flight route between Mesa, Arizona, United States and Pico Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Falcon Field (MSC), Mesa, Arizona, United States and Pico Airport (PIX), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,503 miles (or 7,247 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 Falcon Field and Pico 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 Falcon Field and Pico 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 Falcon Field (MSC):

• Falcon Field is in Maricopa County, Arizona six miles northeast of Mesa, which owns it.
• In addition to being known as "Falcon Field", other names for MSC include "Falcon Field Army Airfield" and "FFZ".
• From 1945-65 the field was leased out to industrial interests, including Talley Defense Systems, Astro Rocket Inc., Rocket Power Inc., the Gabriel Company and others.
• The furthest airport from Falcon Field (MSC) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,443 miles (18,416 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Falcon Field (MSC) has 2 runways.
• Falcon Field covers 784 acres at an elevation of 1,394 feet.
• The closest airport to Falcon Field (MSC) is Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSE of MSC.

Facts about Pico Airport (PIX):

• Pico Airport (PIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pico Airport", another name for PIX is "Aeroporto do Pico".
• Because of Pico Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Pico 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 first studies were completed to construct a runway for the remote island of Pico during the post-War era when, instead, a final decision in 1946 saw the construction of an aerodrome on the island of Faial.
• The closest airport to Pico Airport (PIX) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) W of PIX.
• The furthest airport from Pico Airport (PIX) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Pico Airport (meaning Pico Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,291 miles (19,781 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• In 1990, with the arrival of new ATP aircraft for SATA Air Açores' fleet, the decision was taken to extend the runway, to improve operations with this type of aircraft.