Nonstop flight route between Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,469 miles (or 8,801 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport and Madrid–Torrejón 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport and Madrid–Torrejón 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 Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ):

• There is also a branch of the South African Air Force Museum at the airport.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 226 feet above mean sea level.
• 17 May 2004 - John Travolta landed his personal Qantas Boeing 707 at the airport directly from Mauritius as he was visiting a nearby private game reserve.
• Because of Port Elizabeth International Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Elizabeth 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.
• 1 February 2008 - King Abdullah II of Jordan's Airbus A340-200 landed at Port Elizabeth as he makes his way down the Garden Route to Cape Town on a Harley-Davidson motorbike.
• The closest airport to Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 79 miles (127 kilometers) ENE of PLZ.
• The furthest airport from Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,567 miles (18,615 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) has 2 runways.
• Air Force Station Port Elizabeth is home to C Flight of 15 Squadron of the South African Air Force.
• A highlight in Port Elizabeth's history was the first flight to Port Elizabeth from Cape Town in 1917, made by Major Allister Mackintosh Miller.

Facts about Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ):

• As the time approached in 1987 for the renegotiation of the existing base agreement, which had entered into force in 1983 for a five-year period, pressures mounted for a reduction of the United States military presence in Spain.
• In addition to being known as "Madrid–Torrejón Airport", other names for TOJ include "Aeropuerto de Madrid/Barajas", "Torrejón Air Base" and "Base Aérea de Torrejón".
• Implementation of this agreement was delayed by the 1990–91 crisis in Kuwait, when the 401st TFW was one of the first American fighter wings to respond, with the 612th TFS deploying to its wartime base at Incirlik Turkey and the 614th TFS becoming the first US military unit to deploy to the Persian Gulf State of Qatar.
• Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Madrid–Torrejón Airport (meaning Madrid–Torrejón Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,386 miles (19,933 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
• In January 1988, Spain and the United States announced jointly that agreement had been reached in principle on a new base agreement with an initial term of eight years, essentially meeting the conditions demanded by Spain.
• The closest airport to Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) WSW of TOJ.