Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Kiryat Shmona (Qiryat Shemona), Israel:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW), Kiryat Shmona (Qiryat Shemona), Israel would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,494 miles (or 12,061 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 Kiryat Shmona 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 Kiryat Shmona 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):

• Construction of the Army camp began in September 1941.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• 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.
• The base is named in honor of former Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S.
• General Vandenberg retired from the Air Force in June 1953.
• Although the construction of Camp Cooke continued well into 1942, troop training did not wait.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• 21st Space Operations Squadron

Facts about Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW):

• Because of Kiryat Shmona Airport's relatively low elevation of 376 feet, planes can take off or land at Kiryat Shmona 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 Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,579 miles (18,635 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) is Beirut Air Base (BEY), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) N of KSW.
• Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Now rights to fly a domestic route to and from the airport are held by Tamir Airways, while rights to operate the landing strip are owned by a separate company that is in a dispute with Tamir Airways.
• Its history, based on lack of economic viability and local political differences, has seen various closures and reopenings.
• Currently, the airport operator and the mayor of Kiryat Shmona have yet to resolve the dispute and because of this the airport does not function.
• Tamir Airways announced that it would stop flying to Upper Galilee shortly before the Second Lebanon War broke out, but they changed their mind because they saw it as a "mission of national importance".