Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Nîmes-Arles-Camargue, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI), Nîmes-Arles-Camargue, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,029 miles (or 6,484 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 Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes 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 Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes 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):

• 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.
• Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.
• 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 WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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 Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
• 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.

Facts about Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI):

• The closest airport to Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) WSW of FNI.
• In addition to being known as "Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport", another name for FNI is "Aéroport de Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes".
• In April 2012, the European Commission announced that it had launched an in-depth investigation into the financial arrangements that Nîmes Airport had with public authorities and Ryanair.
• Because of Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport's relatively low elevation of 309 feet, planes can take off or land at Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes 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.
• Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (FNI) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport (meaning Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,393 miles (19,945 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In response to the announcement, Ryanair maintained that its 'arrangements with all EU airports comply with competition rules'.