Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Bern, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Bern Airport (BRN), Bern, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,417 miles (or 8,718 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Bern 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Bern 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• The base was declared surplus and was turned over to the War Assets Administration after being closed.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• 3560th Pilot Training Wing
• The facility was brought back into service as a primary training installation because of the Korean War and the need for additional pilots.
• The airfield was activated as Big Spring Air Force Base on 1 October 1951 by the United States Air Force Air Training Command and established the 3560th Pilot Training Wing.
• In its continuing effort to cut costs, ATC made some major changes in the undergraduate pilot training program.
• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.

Facts about Bern Airport (BRN):

• The closest airport to Bern Airport (BRN) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) ENE of BRN.
• A base of the air rescue organization Rega is located at the Airport, using a Eurocopter EC 145.
• The furthest airport from Bern Airport (BRN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Bern Airport (meaning Bern Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Bern Airport (BRN) has 2 runways.
• The Biderhangar, one of the airport's hangars built by Swiss aviation pioneer Oskar Bider, is listed as a heritage site of national significance in the November 2008 review draft of the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance.
• In addition to being known as "Bern Airport", other names for BRN include "Regionalflugplatz Bern-Belp" and "LSZB / LSMB".