Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS), Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,074 miles (or 6,556 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 Shannon Airport and Northwest Florida Regional 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 Shannon Airport and Northwest Florida Regional 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• Shannon holds an important place in Ireland's aviation history as it was the first transatlantic gateway between Ireland and the US, and the birthplace of Duty-free shopping and of aviation leasing.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• The last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia and Chicago, a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013.
• With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Aeroflot began to suffer, which was a big loss to the airport.
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The 1960s proved to be difficult for Shannon Airport.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS):

• The closest airport to Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport (DSI), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of VPS.
• In addition to being known as "Northwest Florida Regional Airport", another name for VPS is "Eglin Air Force Base".
• The furthest airport from Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,174 miles (17,983 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The terminal is a two-level, 107,000 square foot facility opened in November 2004.
• Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) has 2 runways.
• The airport has a 110,000 ft² passenger terminal with three second-level gates with passenger jet ways and three ground-level commuter gates with regional jet boarding bridges
• Because of Northwest Florida Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 87 feet, planes can take off or land at Northwest Florida Regional 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.