Nonstop flight route between Bristol, England, United Kingdom and Des Moines, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bristol Airport (BRS), Bristol, England, United Kingdom and Des Moines International Airport (DSM), Des Moines, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,098 miles (or 6,595 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 Bristol Airport and Des Moines International 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 Bristol Airport and Des Moines International 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 Bristol Airport (BRS):

• The closest airport to Bristol Airport (BRS) is Bristol Filton Airport (FZO), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNE of BRS.
• Bristol Airport handled 6,131,896 passengers last year.
• In response to the UK Governments's 2003 White Paper The Future of Air Transport, the airport published a Master Plan for expansion over the period 2006–2030.
• In March 2010, the airport was rebranded as Bristol Airport.
• The furthest airport from Bristol Airport (BRS) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,941 miles (19,217 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• In addition to the purchase price of £55,000, the city spent a further £200,000 by 1958 on building the terminal and other development.
• The airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction.
• Because of Bristol Airport's relatively low elevation of 622 feet, planes can take off or land at Bristol 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.
• Bristol Airport (BRS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1944, BOAC started to use the airfield for Dakota and Liberator crew training, and BOAC flights made use of it occasionally as an alternate airfield for Whitchurch, and for topping-up fuel on the Bristol–Lisbon route.

Facts about Des Moines International Airport (DSM):

• Because of Des Moines International Airport's relatively low elevation of 958 feet, planes can take off or land at Des Moines 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.
• On March 13, 2008, an Atlanta-bound ASA flight was delayed more than five hours when a mouse was discovered shortly before take-off from DSM.
• The furthest airport from Des Moines International Airport (DSM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,789 miles (17,363 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Des Moines International Airport (DSM) is Ankeny Regional Airport (IKV), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNE of DSM.
• Des Moines International Airport is a civil-military public airport three miles southwest of Des Moines, in Polk County, Iowa.
• Des Moines International Airport (DSM) has 2 runways.
• In 2012, the airport had 1,038,484 enplanementsFederal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 919,990 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 853,596 in 2009 and 932,828 in 2011.