Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,401 miles (or 5,473 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 Glasgow-Prestwick 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 Glasgow-Prestwick 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 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 Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.

Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• Today BAE Systems retains a small facility at Prestwick for its BAE Systems Regional Aircraft division, with the adjoining main manufacturing site, producing components for Airbus and Boeing aircraft, having been sold to Spirit AeroSystems in January 2006.
• An Airbus A380 made an approach and go round at Prestwick Airport for the first time on 5 September 2009.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• In response, Mark Rodwell, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, told BBC Radio Scotland, that until it was proved otherwise Prestwick Airport remains the only place in the United Kingdom that Elvis Presley ever set foot.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• There had been proposed plans drawn up pre-war for the post war years which would have been classed as extremely ambitious, especially in the austere post-war years.
• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.