Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Varna, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Varna Airport Aksakovo (VAR), Varna, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,842 miles (or 9,401 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Varna Airport Aksakovo, 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Varna Airport Aksakovo. 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• The closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
• The airport is home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S.
• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater International 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.
• In the 1950s some airlines provided service to both PIE and TPA, such as Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines and Northwest Airlines.
• The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and Fly2PIE in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.

Facts about Varna Airport Aksakovo (VAR):

• Varna Airport Aksakovo handled 132,000 passengers last year.
• The terminal was designed by London based architecture firm Pascall+Watson.
• In addition to being known as "Varna Airport Aksakovo", another name for VAR is "Летище Варна Аксаково".
• The furthest airport from Varna Airport Aksakovo (VAR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,224 miles (18,063 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• There are domestic and international flights to about 70 destinations in 25 countries, with Bulgarian and foreign airlines.
• There are domestic and international flights to about 75 destinations in 29 countries, more than 65 Bulgarian and foreign airlines.
• Because of Varna Airport Aksakovo's relatively low elevation of 230 feet, planes can take off or land at Varna Airport Aksakovo 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.
• On 24 May 2013, Air VIA flight 502 from Leipzig to Varna overshot the runway at Varna Airport after touchdown.
• Varna Airport Aksakovo (VAR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Varna Airport Aksakovo (VAR) is Burgas Airport (BOJ), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) SSW of VAR.
• The Airport Bus stop to Varna and nearby resorts is located just outside Terminal 2.
• In 2012, the airport handled 1,211,196 passengers, a 4.1% increase compared to 1,163,884 handled in 2011.