Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Merced, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Merced Regional Airport (MCE), Merced, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,463 miles (or 10,402 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 Merced 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Merced 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The new Sofia tower will be situated to the west of Terminal 2 and will be complementing the terminal building in architectural terms.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• On 19 August 2011 in the presence of Ivaylo Moskovski, minister of transport, information technology and communications, the BULATSA director general Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy AD chief executive director Pavel Kalistratov and Glavbolgarstroy AD executive director and management board member Nina Stoyanova signed the design execution and construction contract between BULATSA and Glavbolgarstroy AD for the new control tower at Sofia Airport.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.
• Options for different airport developments began to be examined in the mid-1960s.
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.

Facts about Merced Regional Airport (MCE):

• Merced Regional Airport (MCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Merced Regional Airport is a base for Medi-Flight Northern California, an air ambulance service provided by Mercy Air, a subsidiary of Air Methods.
• Because of Merced Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 155 feet, planes can take off or land at Merced 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.
• Between 1957 and 2007, Merced Regional Airport hosted the annual Merced West Coast Antique Fly-In.
• In 1946 United Airlines built offices and a terminal building and began one Douglas DC-3 flight each way a day.
• The furthest airport from Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,314 miles (18,209 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Castle Airport (MER), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NNW of MCE.
• On March 6, 2009 the city council voted to change the name from Merced Municipal Airport to Merced Regional Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Merced Regional Airport", another name for MCE is "MacReady Field".