Nonstop flight route between Lanzhou, Gansu, China and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC), Lanzhou, Gansu, China and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,418 miles (or 11,937 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 Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC):

• In addition to being known as "Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport", other names for ZGC include "兰州中川机场" and "Lánzhōu Zhōngchuān Jīchǎng".
• Because of Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport's high elevation of 6,388 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZGC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZGC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) is Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ZGC.
• Lanzhou Airport is a focus city for Hainan Airlines.
• Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Taxi service is relatively expensive due to the long distance to the airport, about 150RMB.
• The construction of a railway line between the airport and the city started on 2012-12-21.
• The furthest airport from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (meaning Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• The airfield and flight line was converted to an uncontrolled/UNICOM-only general aviation airport renamed Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, serving the City of Big Spring.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.
• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.
• The facility first was used by the United States Army Air Forces as Big Spring Army Air Field, opening on 28 April 1942 as part of the Central Flying Training Command.
• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.