Nonstop flight route between Catania, Italy and Belo Horizonte, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY), Catania, Italy and Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU), Belo Horizonte, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,502 miles (or 8,855 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 Naval Air Station Sigonella 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 Naval Air Station Sigonella 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 Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY):

• 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.
• 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.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 79 feet above mean sea level.
• 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.
• Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Sigonella", other names for NSY include "Base aerea di Sigonella" and "NAS Sigonella".
• In the 1980s, Naval Air Facility Sigonella was redesignated as a Naval Air Station.
• Among the aircraft that fly from this island base are U.S.
• When there was no room for expansion at Malta, the U.S.
• Most permanent party military personnel and families are housed in Marinai, located 2 minutes from NAS II and approximately 10–15 minutes from NAS I.
• In late 1985, work crews belonging to NMCB 133 were repairing and installing sidewalks in the housing area at NAS I when they uncovered a small stockpile of Luftwaffe antiaircraft ammunition.

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

• 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.
• Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• With the great increase of traffic at Pampulha Airport, the facility became too small and unable to handle all operations.
• In 1943 the runway was extended to 1,500m x 45m, in 1953 to 1,700m, and finally in 1961 to 2,505m.
• The airport is operated by Infraero.
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL8.4 million investiment plan to upgrade Pampulha Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Brazil, Belo Horizonte being one of the venue cities.