Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Xiangfan, Hubei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN), Xiangfan, Hubei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,568 miles (or 12,180 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 Xiangyang Liuji 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 Xiangyang Liuji 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.

Facts about Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN):

• The closest airport to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Nanyang Jiangying Airport (NNY), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNE of XFN.
• Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport (UAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (meaning Xiangyang Liuji Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in San Juan Province, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Xiangyang Liuji Airport", other names for XFN include "襄阳刘集机场" and "Xiāngyáng Liújí Jīchǎng".