Nonstop flight route between Silver City, New Mexico, United States and Valenciennes, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grant County Airport (SVC), Silver City, New Mexico, United States and Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,352 miles (or 8,614 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 Grant County Airport and Valenciennes-Denain 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 Grant County Airport and Valenciennes-Denain 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 Grant County Airport (SVC):

• Grant County Airport (SVC) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Grant County Airport (SVC) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,404 miles (18,353 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Grant County Airport (SVC) is Deming Municipal AirportDeming Army Airfield (DMN), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) SE of SVC.
• Because of Grant County Airport's high elevation of 5,446 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SVC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SVC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• Reconstruction of the airport included an entirely new asphalt runway, aligned 11/29, along with appropriate taxiways, ramp space and new infrastructure buildings on the north-west side of the airfield.
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.
• Denain Airport began as a pre-World War II airport in France, most likely with a grass runway and several support buildings and a hangar.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• In French control after the war, the airport sat abandoned for several years.
• After the construction of a military airfield at Denain, the airfield was reactivated by the Luftwaffe, stationing Jagdgeschwader 3, a day fighter-interceptor unit assigned to the "Defense of the Reich" campaign against the American Eighth Air Force heavy bombers attacking targets in Occupied Europe and Germany.
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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.
• Denain Airport was cleared of German forces by Allied ground forces about 11 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign.
• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.