Nonstop flight route between Aboisso, Côte d'Ivoire and Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aboisso Airport (ABO), Aboisso, Côte d'Ivoire and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,191 miles (or 5,136 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 Aboisso Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component, 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 Aboisso Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component. 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 Aboisso Airport (ABO):

• Because of Aboisso Airport's relatively low elevation of 95 feet, planes can take off or land at Aboisso 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 Aboisso Airport (ABO) is Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) WSW of ABO.
• The furthest airport from Aboisso Airport (ABO) is Arorae Island Airport (AIS), which is nearly antipodal to Aboisso Airport (meaning Aboisso Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Arorae Island Airport), and is located 12,242 miles (19,702 kilometers) away in Arorae Island, Kiribati.

Facts about NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE):

• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located in the Federal Republic of Germany, near the village of Teveren and six kilometers west of the town of Geilenkirchen.
• The closest airport to NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Merzbrück Airfield (AAH), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSE of GKE.
• Flying operations at Geilenkirchen ended in January 1968 and the installation was handed over to the German Air Force in March 1968.
• The furthest airport from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,929 miles (19,198 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component's relatively low elevation of 296 feet, planes can take off or land at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component 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 Component operates seventeen Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft all of which are based on the Boeing 707 airframe Trainer Cargo Aircraft but which have since been retired).
• Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading.
• The fleet of E-3's has remained in operation since the Cold War and has adapted its mission to emerging security threats, primarily in European airspace.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In January 1980 the first E-3A Component personnel started arriving at the base, and in October 1980 the NATO Defence Planning Committee granted the E-3A Component the status of a NATO International Military Headquarters.
• Following NATO’s decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force program and to make the base near Teveren the Main Operating Base of the E­3A Component, a major construction program was started in 1980 to modify the operational and support facilities.