Nonstop flight route between Owerri, Nigeria and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW), Owerri, Nigeria and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,589 miles (or 8,995 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW):

• Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport handled 276,926 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) is Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa (PHC), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) SSW of QOW.
• Because of Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport's relatively low elevation of 373 feet, planes can take off or land at Sam Mbakwe International Cargo 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 addition to being known as "Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport", another name for QOW is "Imo Airport".
• The furthest airport from Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) is Canton Island Airport (CIS), which is nearly antipodal to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (meaning Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Canton Island Airport), and is located 12,238 miles (19,696 kilometers) away in Canton Island, Kiribati.
• Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (QOW) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
• Early research rockets at Wallops Island
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility 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.
• LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.