Nonstop flight route between Strandhill (near Sligo), Ireland and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sligo Airport (SXL), Strandhill (near Sligo), Ireland and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,043 miles (or 6,507 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 Sligo Airport and MacDill Air Force Base, 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 Sligo Airport and MacDill Air Force Base. 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 Sligo Airport (SXL):

• Until the end of 2008 there was a connection with Manchester which was operated by Aer Arann.
• Sligo Airport is located in Strandhill, County Sligo, 5 NM west of Sligo in Ireland.
• Sligo Airport (SXL) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 21 February 2007, The Irish Government announced that it would be giving €8.5 million to the airport in capital grant money to upgrade the runway and add approach lighting and safety enhancements.
• The closest airport to Sligo Airport (SXL) is Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of SXL.
• Because of Sligo Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Sligo 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.
• Sligo Airport is the home of Rescue 118, the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter which serves the north-west since 2004.
• In addition to being known as "Sligo Airport", another name for SXL is "Aerfort Shligigh".
• Sligo Airport is the home of the Sligo Aero Club and the northwest base for the Irish Coastguard.
• The furthest airport from Sligo Airport (SXL) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,907 miles (19,162 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• Flying operations at MacDill began in 1941 with the base's first mission being the defense of Gulf of Mexico.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 6 AMW also has a collocated "Associate" wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command.
• The host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force.
• Also located at MacDill are a division of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the Florida Air National Guard's 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron, the Navy Reserve Forces Command's Navy Operational Support Center Tampa, the US Army's 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, activities of the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• In late 1943, when Second Air Force began transitioning to B-29 Superfortress training, the B-17 mission returned to MacDill which continued through the end of World War II.