Nonstop flight route between Bakersfield, California, United States and Berlin, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Meadows Field (BFL), Bakersfield, California, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,716 miles (or 9,200 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 Meadows Field and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, 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 Meadows Field and Royal Air Force Station Gatow. 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 Meadows Field (BFL):

• With the end of the war, the base was declared excess to requirements and returned to civil control.
• The closest airport to Meadows Field (BFL) is Shafter Airport (MIT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) WNW of BFL.
• Although the International Terminal is currently closed, when the terminal was open there was no airport transportation between it and the Domestic Terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Meadows Field", another name for BFL is "Kern County Airport No. 1".
• The furthest airport from Meadows Field (BFL) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,406 miles (18,356 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Meadows Field (BFL) has 2 runways.
• Initial response was favorable.
• Because of Meadows Field's relatively low elevation of 510 feet, planes can take off or land at Meadows Field 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 the early 2000s, the county started an initiative to address the problems in air service.
• Federal Aviation Administration records show 141,847 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 103,067 enplanements in 2009, and 111,699 in 2010.

Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• On 20 June 1980, the Royal Australian Air Force presented a Douglas Dakota to RAF Gatow in commemoration of its role.
• After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chipmunk reconnaissance flights soon ceased and the two Chipmunks were flown to RAF Laarbruch, in Western Germany to await disposal action.
• Alongside the Royal Air Force and various British civil aviation companies, the United States Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the South African Air Force all flew supplies into RAF Gatow during the Airlift.
• The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.
• During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
• RAF Gatow has the unique and unlikely distinction of being the base for the only known operational use of flying boats in central Europe, during the Berlin Blockade, on the nearby Großer Wannsee in the Havel river.
• Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow 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 history of RAF Gatow and of western forces in Berlin from 1945 to 1994 is told in the Alliiertenmuseum, or the Allied Museum.
• Late April 1945, towards the end of World War II in Europe, the airfield was occupied by the advancing Red Army.