Nonstop flight route between Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States and La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (FMH), Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States and La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH), La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,353 miles (or 5,396 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 Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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 Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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 Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (FMH):

• Otis ANGB was an alternative landing site for the Space Shuttle orbiter if it ever had to abort its mission during liftoff.
• In the early 1970s, Otis AFB was marked for closure as part of changing priorities and a nation-wide reduction of military bases in response to cost cutting efforts as the Vietnam War was winding down.
• Originally scheduled to be closed by the 2005 BRAC, Otis ANGB was spared in last minute decisions.
• The Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102d Fighter Wing, 101st Fighter Squadron including its previous iterations as a fighter-interceptor group, fighter group, air defense wing and fighter-interceptor wing became the lead command at Otis for executing this mission.
• The Air National Guard's and 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron used Otis when the active duty Air Force was present and shared missions with the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing while operating their own aircraft as indicated in the previous paragraph regarding the Cold War.
• The furthest airport from Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (FMH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod (FMH) is Barnstable Municipal Airport (HYA), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) E of FMH.
• In May 2013, it was announced that one third of the 104th Fighter Wing's F-15 aircraft would be moving to Otis to take up an alert mission for four to six month, as Barnes Municipal Airport's runway underwent renovation.
• In addition to being known as "Otis Air National Guard Base Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod", another name for FMH is "Otis ANGB".

Facts about La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH):

• In addition to being known as "La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport", another name for LRH is "Aéroport de La Rochelle – Ile de Ré".
• Because of La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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.
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) SSE of LRH.
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport handled 236,736 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (meaning La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.