Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Lugano, Agno, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Lugano Airport (LUG), Lugano, Agno, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,740 miles (or 9,237 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Lugano 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Lugano 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night.
• The Tonopah Test Range airfield came into existence in 1957 and was used by the Department of Energy, the Air Force, and several contractors.
• The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• In 2003, after the seizure of the Iraqi Air Force Al-Taqaddum Air Base, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat was found buried in the sand after an informant tipped off U.S.
• The MiG-21 posed a major threat to Israeli Air Defenses as well as to American pilots over the skies of North Vietnam.
• The Tonopah Range Airport first opened in 1957, supporting operations on the Test Range itself, which was used for United States Atomic Energy Commission ) funded weapon programs.
• In May 1973, when Project HAVE IDEA was initiated for joint technical and tactical evaluation of Soviet aircraft types, the tactical evaluation flights of foreign aircraft were undertaken by Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing.

Facts about Lugano Airport (LUG):

• Because of Lugano Airport's relatively low elevation of 915 feet, planes can take off or land at Lugano 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 closest airport to Lugano Airport (LUG) is Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of LUG.
• The airport's instrument approach procedure is quite challenging because of its steep angle of descent of 6.65°, more than double of the standard approach angle of 3°.
• In addition to being known as "Lugano Airport", another name for LUG is "Aeroporto di Lugano".
• The furthest airport from Lugano Airport (LUG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lugano Airport (meaning Lugano Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,134 miles (19,527 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The current location of the airport dates back to 1938, when it opened as a grass field.
• Lugano Airport (LUG) currently has only 1 runway.