Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH), La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,424 miles (or 5,510 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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 Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• Detonation in August 1949 by the Soviet Union of an atomic bomb spawned a new strategy in the military, calling for massive retaliation in the event of an attack.
• Westover was also the launching point of the heroic Berlin Airlift for 327 days during the Soviet blockade.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• With the end of World War II, Westover Field was designated as a permanent United States Army Air Force installation in 1945 and was not inactivated as most of the wartime temporary training airfields were in the fall of 1945.
• Since the Constructing Quartermaster had already planned the base, the first permanent masonry buildings were constructed east of the airfield to those designs, which were intended to be lasting and attractive.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• On 7 April 1944, the Base Operating Unit was reorganized into the 112th Army Air Force Base Unit.

Facts about La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH):

• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport handled 236,736 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport", another name for LRH is "Aéroport de La Rochelle – Ile de Ré".
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (meaning La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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.
• The closest airport to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) SSE of LRH.