Nonstop flight route between Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and Aviano, Pordenone, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS), Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and Aviano Air Base (AVB), Aviano, Pordenone, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,135 miles (or 8,264 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Aviano Air 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Aviano Air 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS):

• Because of Northwest Florida Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 87 feet, planes can take off or land at Northwest Florida Regional 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 closest airport to Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport (DSI), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of VPS.
• The furthest airport from Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,174 miles (17,983 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Northwest Florida Regional Airport", another name for VPS is "Eglin Air Force Base".

Facts about Aviano Air Base (AVB):

• Aviano Air Base was established by the Italian government in 1911, and was used as training base for Italian pilots and construction facility for aircraft parts.
• The 31FW received two new squadrons at that time, the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons, along with their Block-40 F-16s.
• To avoid losing the wing’s heritage and history as the highest scoring Army Air Force unit in the Mediterranean Theater in WWII, the impressive combat record in Vietnam and number of significant firsts they produced in the early years of the Air Force, the 31 FW was chosen to move rather than fade into obscurity.
• The closest airport to Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Belluno Airport (BLX), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) WNW of AVB.
• In 2000, the wing began deployments in support of the Expeditionary Air Force.
• The 31st Fighter Wing continued deploying forces in support of OIF and OEF, with more than one-third of the wing deploying to support operations each year from 2003 to 2007.
• In addition to being known as "Aviano Air Base", another name for AVB is "Aviano AB".
• On August 24, 1992, when Hurricane Andrew swept across southern Florida, leaving extensive damage in its wake.
• Aviano Air Base is a NATO base in northeastern Italy, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.
• The furthest airport from Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,968 miles (19,261 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• As part of the most extensive restructuring since the Air Force became a separate service, the Tactical Air Command was inactivated and the Air Combat Command was activated and the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated to its current name, the 31st Fighter Wing.