Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Barranquilla, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ), Barranquilla, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,870 miles (or 3,009 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 relatively short distance between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• Early research rockets at Wallops Island
• There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• 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 Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ):

• Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Also in 1946 British South American Airways commenced operation at Barranquilla, using a Lancastrian to provide one weekly flight to London via Bermuda.
• Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport is named after one of the most important Colombian aviation pioneers.
• Because of Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport's relatively low elevation of 98 feet, planes can take off or land at Ernesto Cortissoz International 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 Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ) is Christmas Island Airport (XCH), which is nearly antipodal to Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (meaning Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christmas Island Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,944 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Australia.
• The closest airport to Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ) is Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR), which is located 41 miles (65 kilometers) ENE of BAQ.
• The airport has one passenger terminal building to handle all of the airport's commercial traffic.
• Finally on the afternoon of April 7, 1981, Julio Cesar Turbay, president of the Republic and Alvaro Uribe Velez, Chief of the Aeronáutica Civil dedicated Barranquilla's new international airport Ernesto Cortissoz.
• In addition to being known as "Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport", another name for BAQ is "Aeropuerto Internacional Ernesto Cortissoz".
• Also, in the early 1950s a unique system was built for loading and unloading passengers and cargo from DC-4s that drastically reduced the time required by a claimed 50%.