Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Flores Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Flores Airport (FLW), Flores Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,725 miles (or 7,604 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Flores 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Flores 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• 21st Space Operations Squadron
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• From August 1950 to February 1953, Camp Cooke served as a training installation for units slated for combat in Korea, and as a summer training base for many other reserve units.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• 4th Space Launch Squadron
• General Cooke was a cavalry officer whose military career spanned almost half a century, beginning with his graduation from West Point in 1827 to his retirement in 1873.
• The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.

Facts about Flores Airport (FLW):

• On 11 January 2013, a tender was issued by ANA Aeroportos to improve the accessbility within the airport, with installation of lifts, escalators and mechanical walkways, to be installed within the intervening five years.
• Flores Airport is a regional airport on the island of Flores in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.
• The first need for an airport/airfield on the island of Flores was recognized by the Marquis Francesco de Pinedo, colonel of the Italian Air Force, who was forced to land 200 km from the island of Flores, during his attempt to reach Newfoundland.
• In addition to being known as "Flores Airport", another name for FLW is "Aeroporto das Flores".
• Flores Airport (FLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Flores Airport (FLW) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) N of FLW.
• The furthest airport from Flores Airport (FLW) is Flinders Island Airport (FLS), which is nearly antipodal to Flores Airport (meaning Flores Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flinders Island Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,912 kilometers) away in Flinders Island, Tasmania, Australia.
• Flores Airport handled 45,122 passengers last year.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Horta, Vila do Porto, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• Because of Flores Airport's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at Flores 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.