Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and El Aaiún (Laayoune), Morocco:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN), El Aaiún (Laayoune), Morocco would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,634 miles (or 5,849 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 Hassan I Airport El Aaiún 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 Hassan I Airport El Aaiún 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):

• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• 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.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• 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.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.
• In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.

Facts about Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN):

• Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport handled 108,057 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (meaning Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,288 miles (19,776 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• The closest airport to Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) is Fuerteventura Airport (FUE), which is located 98 miles (158 kilometers) NNW of EUN.
• In addition to being known as "Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport", other names for EUN include "Aeropuerto de El Aaiún" and "GMML/GSAI".
• Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) has 2 runways.
• Because of Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport's relatively low elevation of 207 feet, planes can take off or land at Hassan I Airport El Aaiún 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.