Nonstop flight route between Belém, Pará, Brazil and Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL), Belém, Pará, Brazil and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,817 miles (or 7,752 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 Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International 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 Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International 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 Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL):

• The closest airport to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Macapá-Alberto Alcolumbre International Airport (MCP), which is located 205 miles (329 kilometers) WNW of BEL.
• Because of Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 56 feet, planes can take off or land at Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International 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.
• In 1934 General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, then the Director of the Military Aviation, appointed Lieutenant Armando Sierra de Menezes to choose in Val de Cans a site where an airport was to be built.
• The furthest airport from Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Ayawasi Airport (AYW), which is nearly antipodal to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (meaning Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ayawasi Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,708 kilometers) away in Ayawasi, Indonesia.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) has 2 runways.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport handled 3,283,527 passengers last year.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport", another name for BEL is "Aeroporto Internacional de Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro".

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

• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• An Economic Impact Study compiled by the NATO E-3A Component shows a 2008 economic impact of 275.8 million euro within a 200-kilometer radius of the base.
• 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 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.
• Major construction on the base initially included a new 3,000-metre runway with a width of 45 metres, as well as aprons and taxiways, a control tower, an Information Technology Wing building, on-base accommodation and major renovation of the four existing hangars.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading.
• 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.
• Surrounded by farmland and a natural woodland reserve, the base was originally built by the Royal Air Force after World War II and operated as RAF Geilenkirchen from 1953 onwards.