Nonstop flight route between Punta Raisi (near Palermo), Italy and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO), Punta Raisi (near Palermo), Italy and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,337 miles (or 8,590 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 Falcone–Borsellino Airport and MacDill Air Force Base, 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 Falcone–Borsellino Airport and MacDill Air Force Base. 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 Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO):

• The airport's rail facility, Punta Raisi railway station, is the northwestern terminus of Palermo metropolitan railway service.
• Falcone–Borsellino Airport handled 4,349,672 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) is Vincenzo Florio Airport Trapani-Birgi (TPS), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) WSW of PMO.
• Established in 1985, until 1994 GESAP operated exclusively as handler and supplier of ground services for Palermo airport, the management of which is directly assigned by the government and overseen by the District Airport Directorate.
• In addition to being known as "Falcone–Borsellino Airport", another name for PMO is "Aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino".
• The furthest airport from Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,805 miles (18,999 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Falcone–Borsellino Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Falcone–Borsellino 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.
• On 30 May 2004, ENAC awarded GESAP an "airport certificate" in recognition of the airport's full conformity with the regulations set down in ENAC's "regulations for the construction and management of airports".
• Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO) has 2 runways.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• In addition to the antisubmarine mission, another prewar mission of MacDill was "Project X" the ferrying of combat aircraft eastward to the Philippines via ferrying routes set up by Ferrying Command over South Atlantic Ocean and Central Africa.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• Estimates of the number of crew members trained at the base during the war vary from 50,000 to 120,000, with as many as 15,000 troops were stationed at MacDill Field at one time.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 44th Bombardment Group was activated at MacDill on 15 January 1941 equipped with the Consolidated B-24A Liberator.
• Beginning in January 1944, the 11th Photographic Group used MacDill for its mission of photographic mapping in the US and sent detachments to carry out similar operations in Africa, the CBI theater, the Near and Middle East, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and the Caribbean.