Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ), Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,968 miles (or 6,386 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 Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho 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 Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho 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 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 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.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.

Facts about Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ):

• It is operated by Infraero.
• In addition to being known as "Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport", another name for PNZ is "Aeroporto de Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho".
• The closest airport to Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) is Barra Airport (BQQ), which is located 209 miles (337 kilometers) SW of PNZ.
• Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport handled 473,482 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) is Falalop Airfield (ULI), which is nearly antipodal to Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (meaning Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Falalop Airfield), and is located 12,385 miles (19,931 kilometers) away in Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.
• Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Petrolina Airport handles the exportation of fresh fruits from the São Francisco valley to Europe and the US.