Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and New Orleans, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Lakefront Airport (NEW), New Orleans, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 995 miles (or 1,601 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 relatively short distance between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Lakefront Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• 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 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.
• The Wallops Flight Facility also supports science missions for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and occasionally for foreign governments and commercial organizations.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.

Facts about Lakefront Airport (NEW):

• In addition to being known as "Lakefront Airport", another name for NEW is "(former New Orleans Army Air Base)".
• Because of Lakefront Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Lakefront 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.
• Originally the major commercial airport in the New Orleans area, Lakefront Airport relinquished that role in 1946 when commercial airline service began from Louis Armstrong International Airport, a significantly larger facility located in the nearby suburb of Kenner.
• The furthest airport from Lakefront Airport (NEW) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,127 miles (17,908 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Lakefront Airport (NEW) has 3 runways.
• At the start of the 1960s, thick concrete panels were added to the main terminal building to turn it into a Cold War era bomb shelter.
• The closest airport to Lakefront Airport (NEW) is Southern Seaplane Airport (BCS), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) S of NEW.
• Lakefront Airport was damaged by hurricane-force winds and the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and a number of the hangars and outlying buildings were destroyed.
• During World War II, the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces and housed the Tropical Weather School in 1945.
• On January 23, 2010 a United States Navy Beechcraft T-34 Mentor training aircraft crashed into Lake Ponchartrain just over one mile from the approach end of the airport.