Nonstop flight route between Catania, Italy and Madrid, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY), Catania, Italy and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), Madrid, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,014 miles (or 1,631 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 relatively short distance between Naval Air Station Sigonella and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1], the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY):

• When NATO took military intervention to Libya in 2011, NAS Sigonella played an important role in US Operation Odyssey Dawn because of its short distance to the country.
• When there was no room for expansion at Malta, the U.S.
• On 1 April 2004, the Defense Logistics Agency opened Defense Depot Sigonella Italy on NAS II to serve as a supply base for the Mediterranean.
• By the end of August 1959, the NAF II airfield was available for daylight flights under visual flight rules.
• On the night of 10 October 1985, there were tense hours on NAS II when the Italian Carabinieri, Italian Air Force, and the US Army's Delta Force came close to firing upon one another following the interception by Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters of an Egyptian Boeing 737 airliner carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, which had been commandeered by members of the PLO on 7 October.
• Because of Naval Air Station Sigonella's relatively low elevation of 79 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station Sigonella 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 Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) is Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) ENE of NSY.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,695 miles (18,821 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Sigonella", other names for NSY include "Base aerea di Sigonella" and "NAS Sigonella".
• The United States Naval Air Facility, Sigonella, was established 15 June 1959.
• Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) has 2 runways.
• Ground was broken in September, and construction on the administrative area at NAF I was started in 1958.

Facts about Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD):

• The 1982 FIFA World Cup brought significant expansion and modernisation of the airport's two existing terminals.
• In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations, 4,400 m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas.
• On 27 January 2012, Spanair suspended all flights affecting Madrid-Barajas as well as other domestic and international connections.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) has 4 runways.
• The Madrid–Barcelona air shuttle service, known as the "Puente Aéreo", literally called "Air Bridge", is the second busiest air route in Europe after İstanbul Atatürk and İzmir, with the highest number of flight operations in 2012.
• In addition to being known as "Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]", another name for MAD is "Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas".
• The closest airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ENE of MAD.
• In October 2006, a bid was launched for the construction of a Cercanías link between Chamartín Station and Terminal 4.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] handled 39,729,027 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (meaning Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.