Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Porto, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), Porto, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,474 miles (or 5,591 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro 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):

• 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• 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.

Facts about Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO):

• It includes an area of between 72 metres in the extreme south and 43 metres in the north.
• Because of Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Francisco Sá Carneiro 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.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport is an international airport near Porto, Portugal.
• On 25 February 2008, Airports Council International announced that according to its 2007 Airport Service Quality Survey, Porto placed first overall in Europe for service and placed fourth among airports worldwide having fewer than 5 million passengers.
• In addition to being known as "Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport", another name for OPO is "Aeroporto Francisco Sá Carneiro".
• The closest airport to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of OPO.
• The furthest airport from Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Westport Airport (WSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (meaning Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Westport Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Westport, New Zealand.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport handled 6,050,094 passengers last year.
• In 2007, the airport was voted the Best Airport in Europe in the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International.