Nonstop flight route between Pago Pago, American Samoa and Bossier City, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pago Pago International Airport (PPG), Pago Pago, American Samoa and Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,017 miles (or 9,684 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 Pago Pago International Airport and Barksdale 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 Pago Pago International Airport and Barksdale 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 Pago Pago International Airport (PPG):

• South Pacific jet services between Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu and Papeete were first offered by Pan American World Airways in 1964 using Boeing 707 aircraft.
• To facilitate aircraft with large payload requirements and long distance flights, runway 05/23 was expanded in early 2001 from an original runway length of 9,000 feet to the current 10,000 feet.
• Pago Pago International Airport (PPG) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Pago Pago International Airport (PPG) is Ofu Airport (OFU), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) E of PPG.
• Because of Pago Pago International Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Pago Pago 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.
• Pago Pago International Airport and the original Tafuna Airfield military facilities were first used for commercial trans pacific air service in November 1946 when Pan American Airways resumed service from Honolulu to Australia and New Zealand.
• The airport was a vital link to the Samoan Islands until the runway at Faleolo International Airport in Independent Samoa was improved and lengthened to handle larger than Boeing 737 type aircraft in 1984.
• The furthest airport from Pago Pago International Airport (PPG) is Zinder Airport (ZND), which is nearly antipodal to Pago Pago International Airport (meaning Pago Pago International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Zinder Airport), and is located 12,396 miles (19,950 kilometers) away in Zinder, Niger.
• Tasman Empire Airways Limited, or TEAL, the predecessor to what is now Air New Zealand, offered Douglas DC-6 flights from Nadi to Pago Pago and onwards to Tahiti in 1954 as part of its Coral Route Service.
• A new US$12+ million Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Fire Crash station was completed in 2005.

Facts about Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• Construction of Barksdale Field began in 1931, when hangars, runways, and billets were built.
• Also during World War II Barksdale played host to the major contingent of the Free French Air Forces and Nationalist Chinese aircrews.
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The name of the airfield was changed to Barksdale Air Force Base on 13 February 1948, concurrent with the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch.
• Barksdale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 4.72 miles east-southeast of Bossier City, Louisiana.
• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.
• When the Korean War broke out in 1950, a three-plane detachment from the wing flew to Johnson Air Base, Japan to provide the Far East Air Forces commander improved reconnaissance capability.
• Units at Barksdale include the oldest bomb wing in the Air Force, the 2d Bomb Wing.
• The 2d Bomb Wing conducts the primary mission of Barksdale AFB with three squadrons of B-52H Stratofortress bombers – the 11th Bomb Squadron, which is the training squadron, the 20th Bomb Squadron and the 96th Bomb Squadron.