Nonstop flight route between Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia and Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT), Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia and Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,395 miles (or 10,292 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 Fa'a'ā International Airport and Westover Air Reserve 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 Fa'a'ā International Airport and Westover Air Reserve 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 Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT):

• McDonald's is at terminal 2 and is close to the conveyor belts.
• Fa'a'ā International Airport is relatively small.
• Air Tahiti has its head office at the airport.
• The furthest airport from Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) is El Debba Airport (EDB), which is nearly antipodal to Fa'a'ā International Airport (meaning Fa'a'ā International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from El Debba Airport), and is located 12,387 miles (19,935 kilometers) away in El Debba (Al Dabbah), Sudan.
• In addition to being known as "Fa'a'ā International Airport", another name for PPT is "Aéroport International Tahiti Fa'a'ā".
• The closest airport to Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) is Moorea Airport (MOZ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WNW of PPT.
• Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Fa'a'ā International Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Fa'a'ā 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.

Facts about Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• With the end of World War II, Westover Field was designated as a permanent United States Army Air Force installation in 1945 and was not inactivated as most of the wartime temporary training airfields were in the fall of 1945.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• The original airfield at Westover consisted of three runways in the standard "A" pattern to accommodate landings in all directions based on wind direction.
• Numerous Airborne Engineer Aviation battalions were activated and trained at Westover, to include the 871st, 872d, 873d, 877th, 878th, 879th, 880th, and 881st.
• Westover was also the launching point of the heroic Berlin Airlift for 327 days during the Soviet blockade.
• ADC established a more substantial presence in July 1957 when the 4729th Air Defense Group was activated.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• The mission of Westover was to organize and provide initial training to new combat units.