Nonstop flight route between Minsk, Belarus and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minsk National Airport (MSQ), Minsk, Belarus and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,640 miles (or 7,468 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 Minsk National Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Minsk National Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Minsk National Airport (MSQ):

• In 1977 in the environs of the Belarusian capital the building of the new airport "Minsk-2" was begun.
• The closest airport to Minsk National Airport (MSQ) is Minsk-1 Airport (MHP), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) W of MSQ.
• The airport is located 42 km east of Minsk, and is linked with the city with a toll-free highway.
• In addition to being known as "Minsk National Airport", another name for MSQ is "Нацыянальны аэрапорт МінскНациональный аэропорт Минск".
• Minsk international airport is linked to the capital by the M2 motorway.
• The furthest airport from Minsk National Airport (MSQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,134 miles (17,918 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Minsk National Airport's relatively low elevation of 669 feet, planes can take off or land at Minsk National 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 airport serves as hub of the national Belarussian airline Belavia and the cargo carriers TransAVIAexport Airlines and Genex.
• In 2009 airport served 1,010,695 passengers out of which 682,000 were served by the national airline Belavia.
• Minsk National Airport (MSQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Minsk National Airport, former name Minsk-2, is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km to the east of the capital Minsk, geographically lying in the territory of Smalyavichy Raion, but administratively being subordinated to Kastrychnitski District of Minsk.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility 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 schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.