Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Santiago de Compostela, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), Santiago de Compostela, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,450 miles (or 5,551 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 Santiago de Compostela 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 Santiago de Compostela 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):

• 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• 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 schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.

Facts about Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ):

• In addition to being known as "Santiago de Compostela Airport", another name for SCQ is "Aeroporto de Santiago de Compostela".
• The terminal is due to be expanded in the near future.
• Santiago de Compostela Airport handled 2,194,611 passengers last year.
• Subsidies granted by the Galician autonomous government to certain airlines operating at Santiago airport have been criticized by some social and political agents in Galicia, claiming that it implies unfair competition that damages the existing services at Vigo Airport and A Coruña Airport, which are located in Galicia's most populated areas.
• On 13 October 2011 a new passenger terminal opened at the airport, replacing the old 1969 terminal.
• The closest airport to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) N of SCQ.
• In 1981, a cargo terminal was built, giving the airport capacity to handle cargo flights.
• Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is Hokitika Airport (HKK), which is nearly antipodal to Santiago de Compostela Airport (meaning Santiago de Compostela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hokitika Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Hokitika, New Zealand.