Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Reus (near Tarragona), Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Reus Airport (REU), Reus (near Tarragona), Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,165 miles (or 8,311 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 Sheppard Air Force Base and Reus 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 Sheppard Air Force Base and Reus 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 Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States.
• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• As of September 2013, Brigadier General Scott Kindsvater is the commander of the 82d Training Wing, and he concurrently serves as the installation commander of Sheppard AFB.
• The aircraft mechanics school was transferred to Sheppard from Keesler AFB, Mississippi in April 1949 to make room for expansion of electronic training at that base.
• The Air Force School of Health Care Sciences offered training in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and health-services administration.
• The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941.

Facts about Reus Airport (REU):

• Reus Airport (REU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Reus Airport", another name for REU is "Aeroport de Reus".
• Reus Airport handled 971,166 passengers last year.
• The nearest railway station is Reus, served by local and express trains to Barcelona, Lleida and many other destinations in Spain.
• The airport receives a large amount of tourist traffic from passengers destined for the beach resorts of Salou and Cambrils as well as for Barcelona, which is approximately 100 km to the northeast.
• The closest airport to Reus Airport (REU) is Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) ENE of REU.
• The furthest airport from Reus Airport (REU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Reus Airport (meaning Reus Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,217 miles (19,661 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is a Ryanair base since October 2008 although for the winter 2009–2010 season Ryanair reduced the number of flights and destinations from Reus by a substantial amount.
• Because of Reus Airport's relatively low elevation of 233 feet, planes can take off or land at Reus 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.