Nonstop flight route between Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Glendale, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Plovdiv Airport (PDV), Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), Glendale, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,552 miles (or 10,545 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 Plovdiv Airport and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field, 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 Plovdiv Airport and Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field. 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 Plovdiv Airport (PDV):

• Plovdiv Airport (PDV) currently has only 1 runway.
• Next to the airbase is the only functional aviation museum in Bulgaria.
• Plovdiv Airport handled 8,752 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Plovdiv Airport (PDV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,355 miles (18,273 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Plovdiv Airport (PDV) is Haskovo Malevo Airport (HKV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) E of PDV.
• Because of Plovdiv Airport's relatively low elevation of 597 feet, planes can take off or land at Plovdiv 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.
• During these first years at the new location on the north-west perimeter of the airport, the airport serves scheduled domestic passenger flights to Bourgas, Varna, Targovishte, Rousse, Sofia and Gorna Oryahovitsa, with mainly IL-14 aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Plovdiv Airport", other names for PDV include "Krumovo Airport" and "Летище Пловдив".
• The new passenger terminal building was officially opened on 1 July 2009.

Facts about Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF):

• In addition to being known as "Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field", another name for LUF is "Luke AFB".
• The closest airport to Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) S of LUF.
• Ground school, or classroom training for the advanced flying course, varied from about 100 to 130 hours and was intermingled with flight time in the aircraft.
• The host unit, the 56th Fighter Wing, is tasked to train F-16 fighter pilots and maintainers, while deploying mission ready warfighters.
• In addition to flying and maintaining the F-16, Luke airmen also deploy to support on-going operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and to combatant commanders in other locations around the world.
• The furthest airport from Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,426 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Although continually modified during the war years, the course of advanced flight training at Luke averaged about 10 weeks and included both flight training and ground school.