Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Gainesville, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE), Gainesville, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,964 miles (or 9,598 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Gainesville Municipal 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Gainesville Municipal 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The manager will have full visibility over the airport, to guide aircraft landing and taking off.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• The new Sofia tower will be situated to the west of Terminal 2 and will be complementing the terminal building in architectural terms.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• According to the plan a new Sofia airport terminal was built to the east of the old terminal and a second runway was constructed alongside the existing one.
• The construction of the new Sofia tower is related to the reconstruction and development of Sofia Airport and is the natural extension of the development of the airport complex.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The project for the construction of a new airport control tower at Sofia Airport commenced on 16 June 2006 with a decision of the BULATSA Management Board.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.

Facts about Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE):

• The airport was opened in August 1941 as Gainesville Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Third Air Force as a training base to provide photographic intelligence for air and ground forces.
• Because of Gainesville Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 845 feet, planes can take off or land at Gainesville Municipal 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 Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE) is North Texas Regional Airport (PNX), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) E of GLE.
• Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,905 miles (17,550 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Reassigned from Third Air Force in April 1944 to AAF Central Flying Training Command.