Nonstop flight route between Proserpine, Queensland, Australia and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP), Proserpine, Queensland, Australia and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,096 miles (or 13,030 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 Whitsunday Coast Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Whitsunday Coast Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP):

• The furthest airport from Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,963 miles (19,253 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• In addition to being known as "Whitsunday Coast Airport", another name for PPP is "Proserpine/Whitsunday Coast Airport".
• Because of Whitsunday Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Whitsunday Coast 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 year ending 30 June 2011 the airport handled 213,619 passengers making it the 27th busiest airport in Australia.
• Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) has 2 runways.
• Recently the Passenger Terminal underwent an upgrade.
• In September 2001, the airport suffered heavily from the collapse of Ansett Australia, who at the time were the biggest operators out of Proserpine with direct services to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
• The closest airport to Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) is Whitsunday Airport (WSY), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) NE of PPP.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The Air Force established a standard wing structure—a dual deputy concept—in 1963.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• The base was declared surplus and was turned over to the War Assets Administration after being closed.
• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.
• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.