Nonstop flight route between Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States and Belo Horizonte, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL), Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States and Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU), Belo Horizonte, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,737 miles (or 7,623 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 Northwest Alabama Regional Airport and Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade 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 Northwest Alabama Regional Airport and Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade 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 Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL):

• Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL) is Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of MSL.
• The furthest airport from Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,143 miles (17,932 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport was opened in February 1940, however in 1942 it was taken over by the United States Army Air Forces as a World War II pilot training military airfield.
• Northwest Alabama Regional Airport covers an area of 640 acres at an elevation of 551 feet above mean sea level.
• Because of Northwest Alabama Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 551 feet, planes can take off or land at Northwest Alabama 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.

Facts about Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU):

• However, due to the long distance between Belo Horizonte and Confins, Pampulha remained the airport of choice for most airlines, eventually becoming overcrowded, while Confins was under-used.
• The furthest airport from Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Pampulha Airport was opened in 1933 as a support facility for the passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force between Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza.
• In addition to being known as "Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport", another name for PLU is "Aeroporto de Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade".
• Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport handled 989,599 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) is Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) N of PLU.
• In 1943 the runway was extended to 1,500m x 45m, in 1953 to 1,700m, and finally in 1961 to 2,505m.
• Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) currently has only 1 runway.