Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN), Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,248 miles (or 8,446 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 Cologne/Bonn 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 Cologne/Bonn 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 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.
• Emblem of the AAF Bombardier School Big Spring AAF
• 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.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• In 1968, ATC established a single phase-pilot training squadron concept at Webb.

Facts about Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN):

• The closest airport to Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) is Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) NNW of CGN.
• The older Terminal 1, a building from the 1970s which spots large surfaces of bare concrete in its design, features a main building with shops, restaurants, check-in and service facilities and a visitors deck on its roof as well as the piers B and C with five aircraft stands each plus a central airside hall between them added in 2004 with joint security-check facilities, more shops and restaurants as well as three additional stands.
• The furthest airport from Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,921 miles (19,185 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• After World War II the British military took over and expanded the airport.
• Because of Cologne/Bonn Airport's relatively low elevation of 302 feet, planes can take off or land at Cologne/Bonn 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.
• Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) has 3 runways.
• In April 2014 Ryanair announced the opening of their fifth German base at Cologne/Bonn Airport for October 2014.
• Local bus lines also connect the airport with Cologne and Bonn.
• Cologne/Bonn Airport handled 9,280,070 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Cologne/Bonn Airport", another name for CGN is "Flughafen Köln/Bonn".
• Cologne Bonn Airport is a major cargo hub in the world mainly due to its function as a hub for FedEx and UPS.
• The airport has its own exit on motorway A59 which links it to the city centres of Cologne and Bonn as well as the Ruhrgebiet.
• In 1986 Cologne/Bonn Airport was chosen by United Parcel Service as the location for their European hub.