Nonstop flight route between Aachen, Germany and San Antonio, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Merzbrück Airfield (AAH), Aachen, Germany and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,259 miles (or 8,463 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 Merzbrück Airfield and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio, 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 Merzbrück Airfield and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio. 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 Merzbrück Airfield (AAH):

• After the war, the airport was used by the British Forces Germany and later by the Belgian Forces in Germany.
• The airport was built about 1932 as a grass airfield, and throughout the 1930s was used by small light aircraft.
• Because of Merzbrück Airfield's relatively low elevation of 623 feet, planes can take off or land at Merzbrück Airfield 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.
• Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Merzbrück Airfield", another name for AAH is "Flugplatz Merzbrück".
• The furthest airport from Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,937 miles (19,210 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) is NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of AAH.
• With the outbreak of World War II, Merzbrück was used by the Luftwaffe, with IV./LG 1 and I./St.G.
• Merzbrück Airfield is an airfield located in Aachen, Germany.

Facts about Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):

• On 1 February 1953 the 741st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Lackland 29°23′16.4″N 98°37′59.9″W / 29.387889°N 98.633306°W / 29.387889.
• The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
• The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• By late 1959 Lackland was also performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Lackland AFB is part of Joint Base San Antonio, an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.
• As a result of the Korean War, training populations at Lackland soared to 28 basic military training squadrons within the 3700th Military Training Wing.
• In September 1972, the Houston-based 630th Radar Squadron sent a detachment to this FAA-operated site to set up an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar to join the AN/FPS-66A search radar already in place.
• Lackland, like many other Air Education and Training Command bases, trains enlisted airmen out of basic training in a specific specialty via various "tech schools." Lackland currently has six technical training squadrons on base training multiple airmen in various Air Force Specialty Codes.
• In October 2008 the BMT was expanded an extra two weeks to implement more air base defense training as well as other rudimentary skills.