Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT), Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,310 miles (or 14,983 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 Sanga-Sanga 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 Sanga-Sanga 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):

• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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 Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.
• In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space.
• 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 Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT):

• Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The new runway was inaugurated on August 17, 2009 by Ambassador Kristie Kenney and local officials.
• The closest airport to Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) is Semporna Airport (SMM), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) WSW of TWT.
• In addition to being known as "Sanga-Sanga Airport", another name for TWT is "Paliparan ng Sanga-Sanga".
• Sanga-Sanga Airport handled 8,663 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) is Ponta Pelada Airport (PLL), which is nearly antipodal to Sanga-Sanga Airport (meaning Sanga-Sanga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ponta Pelada Airport), and is located 12,304 miles (19,802 kilometers) away in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Because of Sanga-Sanga Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Sanga-Sanga 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.
• Currently, the airport runway is being extended to 1,930 meters through partnerships between the DOTC, the CAAP, the United States Agency for International Development, the regional government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Tawi-Tawi provincial government.