Nonstop flight route between Bakersfield, California, United States and Zürich, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Meadows Field (BFL), Bakersfield, California, United States and Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,857 miles (or 9,427 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 Zurich 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 Meadows Field and Zurich 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 Meadows Field (BFL):

• Meadows Field (BFL) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• The airport is located at the intersection of Merle Haggard Drive and Airport Drive, in Oildale.
• The closest airport to Meadows Field (BFL) is Shafter Airport (MIT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) WNW of BFL.
• In September 1939 war broke out in Europe, prompting Congress to appropriate $40 million for Development of Landing Areas for National Defense.
• Initial response was favorable.
• Airport diagrams for 1955 and 1965
• Service was expensive compared to nearby airports, and normally ran during inconvenient times.
• In December 1944 the 481st NFOTG was inactivated as part of an AAF reorganization.
• 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 addition to being known as "Meadows Field", another name for BFL is "Kern County Airport No. 1".

Facts about Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Swiss International Air Lines has an office on the property of Zurich Airport and in Kloten, consisting of the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie buildings.Swiss World Cargo has its head office in the Alpha and Bravo buildings.Swiss Private Aviation has its head office in the Swiss complex.Swiss European Air Lines and Swiss AviationTraining, subsidiaries of Swiss, are also headquartered on the airport property.
• Zurich Airport railway station is located underneath the terminal.
• The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace.
• The airport is owned by Flughafen Zürich AG, a company quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange.