Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Milano, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Milano, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,167 miles (or 6,706 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 Milan Malpensa 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 Milan Malpensa 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 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 mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea.
• 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 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• 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 Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.

Facts about Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP):

• Milan Malpensa Airport handled 18,537,301 passengers last year.
• Ground handling services have been slowly deregulated and have seen SEA create SEA Handling and the arrival of private handler ATA Handling.
• Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) has 2 runways.
• Malpensa has two terminals and a third runway has been announced, with construction to commence in 2014 and finish in 2017.
• A free shuttle bus links Terminal 1 & 2 every 7 minutes 24 hours a day, within the airport.
• The closest airport to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of MXP.
• During the night of 24/25 October 1998 Alitalia moved the majority of its fleet from Rome-Fiumicino – where it had flown from for over 50 years – to Malpensa Airport, which then started a new lease of life as the Italian flag carrier's main hub.
• The furthest airport from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Milan Malpensa Airport (meaning Milan Malpensa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Milan Malpensa Airport", another name for MXP is "Aeroporto di Milano-Malpensa "Città di Milano"".