Nonstop flight route between Staunton / Waynesboro / Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States and Tripoli, Libya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD), Staunton / Waynesboro / Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States and Mitiga International Airport (MJI), Tripoli, Libya would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,965 miles (or 7,991 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 Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport and Mitiga International 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 Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport and Mitiga International 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 Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD):

• The furthest airport from Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,601 miles (18,670 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 7,746 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 8,364 enplanements in 2009, and 10,408 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) is Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) ESE of SHD.
• Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Mitiga International Airport (MJI):

• Mitiga International Airport (MJI) has 2 runways.
• Air services to Libya were suspended during the civil war of 2011, airlines have started returning since the situation has stabilised, this included three foreign carriers launching service to Mitiga on a temporary basis, as the main Tripoli International Airport was closed to traffic.
• Because of Mitiga International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Mitiga 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.
• On 21 August 2011, rebels launched an assault on Mitiga as part of a bid to battle loyalist forces in Tripoli, sustaining a number of casualties in the process
• On 25 October 2011, Google Earth released mutlispectral imagery from Geo Eye taken on 28 August which showed the airfield as well as the highly capable MiG-25 aircraft without any visible damage.
• The 48 TFW had practiced for years at Wheelus with F-100s and later at Zaragoza AB Spain with F-4D Phantoms and the F-111s for just such a mission.
• The furthest airport from Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Rarotonga International Airport (RAR), which is located 11,524 miles (18,546 kilometers) away in Avarua, Cook Islands.
• The closest airport to Mitiga International Airport (MJI) is Tripoli International Airport (TIP), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MJI.
• After the USAF left, Wheelus became a Libyan People's Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.
• During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the The Times and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protestors opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
• The fourteen-hour 9,300-kilometre round trip to Libya required numerous in-air refuelings, because countries closer to Libya – Spain, Italy, France, and Greece – had refused American planes permission to fly over or from bases in their countries.
• In addition to being known as "Mitiga International Airport", another name for MJI is "مطار امعيتيقة الدولي".