Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Ali-Sabieh, Djibouti:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Ali-Sabieh Airport (AII), Ali-Sabieh, Djibouti would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,205 miles (or 11,595 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Ali-Sabieh 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Ali-Sabieh 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility 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.
• LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.

Facts about Ali-Sabieh Airport (AII):

• In addition to being known as "Ali-Sabieh Airport", another name for AII is "مطار علي سايبه".
• The closest airport to Ali-Sabieh Airport (AII) is Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport (JIB), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NE of AII.
• The furthest airport from Ali-Sabieh Airport (AII) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Ali-Sabieh Airport (meaning Ali-Sabieh Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,285 miles (19,771 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.