Nonstop flight route between St. Louis, Missouri, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), St. Louis, Missouri, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,448 miles (or 8,768 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 Lambert–St. Louis International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Lambert–St. Louis International Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL):

• The closest airport to Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) is St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) SE of STL.
• In the late 1920s, Lambert Field became the first airport with an air traffic control system—albeit one that communicated with pilots via waving flags.
• Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) has 4 runways.
• By September 2002, Lambert's passenger traffic had declined by 16.9% from before the terrorist attacks a year earlier, which was the 8th biggest percentage drop of the major US airports.
• To handle the increasing passenger traffic, Minoru Yamasaki was commissioned to design a new terminal at Lambert.
• Because of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport's relatively low elevation of 605 feet, planes can take off or land at Lambert–St. Louis 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.
• The furthest airport from Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,986 miles (17,681 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1985, Southwest Airlines began service, an event that would lead to major changes at the airport in the coming years.
• In 2006, the United States Air Force announced plans to turn the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard into the 131st Bomb Wing.
• During 2008, Lambert's position as an American Airlines hub faced further pressure due to increased fuel costs and softened demand because of a depressed economy.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• 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 passenger terminal building is designed with a capacity of 2,000 peak hour passengers or up to 2.6 million passengers a year, plus 26,000 tonnes of luggage.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.
• Options for different airport developments began to be examined in the mid-1960s.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The terminal had substantially reached its capacity of some 600,000 passengers a year by the later 1960s and was subjected to a number of refurbishments and extensions beginning in the spring of 1968.