Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kabul, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kabul International Airport (KBL), Kabul, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,939 miles (or 11,167 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 Kabul International 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 Kabul International 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.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects.
• 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.

Facts about Kabul International Airport (KBL):

• In addition to being known as "Kabul International Airport", another name for KBL is "میدان هوایی بین المللی کابل".
• An F-15E Strike Eagle from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., sits on the runway at the Kabul International Airport September 2011.
• The airport has 7 helicopter pad for mostly military traffic.
• The furthest airport from Kabul International Airport (KBL) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,919 miles (19,182 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Afghan Air Force personnel are welcomed back home on the flight line of the AAF base in Kabul on Sep.
• The closest airport to Kabul International Airport (KBL) is Bagram Airfield (OAI), which is located 26 miles (43 kilometers) N of KBL.
• Kabul International Airport (KBL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Kabul Airport was originally built in the early 1960s by Soviet engineers.
• Because of Kabul International Airport's high elevation of 5,877 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KBL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KBL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Following NATO's invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Kabul International Airport was bombed by United States and coalition forces.