Nonstop flight route between Mineral Wells, Texas, United States and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mineral Wells Airport (MWL), Mineral Wells, Texas, United States and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,944 miles (or 7,956 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 Mineral Wells Airport and Bilbao 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 Mineral Wells Airport and Bilbao 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 Mineral Wells Airport (MWL):

• In December 1945 the entire facility was deactivated.
• The furthest airport from Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,980 miles (17,670 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) has 2 runways.
• Because of Mineral Wells Airport's relatively low elevation of 974 feet, planes can take off or land at Mineral Wells 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 Vietnam War increased the need for pilots, and the base became the home for training not just army personnel, but also helicopter pilots for the Marine Corps in 1968 and for the Air Force in 1970.
• The closest airport to Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of MWL.
• In addition to being known as "Mineral Wells Airport", other names for MWL include "(former Wolters Air Force Base)" and "(former Wolters Army Airfield)".

Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
• On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz, all passengers and crew died.
• The construction works commenced during the Civil War but during this time and until June 1937 the airport was only used as a base for military activities.
• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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 closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava's design by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed.
• With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.