Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Mogadishu, Somalia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ), Mogadishu, Somalia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,768 miles (or 12,502 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 Aden Adde 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 Aden Adde 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):

• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.

Facts about Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ):

• As of June 2014, the largest services using Aden Adde International Airport include the Somali-owned private carriers Jubba Airways and Daallo Airlines, in addition to UN charter planes, African Express Airways,Turkish Airlines, and SkyGreece Airlines.
• The closest airport to Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ) is Baidoa Airport (BIB), which is located 138 miles (223 kilometers) WNW of MGQ.
• During the post-independence period, Mogadishu International Airport offered flights to numerous global destinations.
• The furthest airport from Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,824 miles (19,029 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Among its first initiatives, worth an estimated $6 million, SKA invested in new airport equipment and expanded support services by hiring, training and equipping 200 local workers to meet international airport standards.
• In the 1970s, Somalia's then ruling socialist government enlisted its Soviet allies for major renovations to the ground's facilities.