Nonstop flight route between Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States and Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGI), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,499 miles (or 7,240 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 Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component, 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 Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component. 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 Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGI):

• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 443 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 978 enplanements in 2009, and 4,862 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Cape Girardeau Regional Airport", another name for CGI is "Harris Army Airfield".
• Contract flying training was short at the airfield, the school closing during the late summer of 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
• Because of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 342 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Girardeau Regional 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 Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGI) is Sikeston Memorial Municipal AirportHarvey Parks Army Airfield (SIK), which is located 23 miles (36 kilometers) S of CGI.
• Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGI) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (CGI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,036 miles (17,761 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE):

• Flying operations at Geilenkirchen ended in January 1968 and the installation was handed over to the German Air Force in March 1968.
• The closest airport to NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Merzbrück Airfield (AAH), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSE of GKE.
• The furthest airport from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,929 miles (19,198 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component's relatively low elevation of 296 feet, planes can take off or land at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component 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 E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• In January 1980 the first E-3A Component personnel started arriving at the base, and in October 1980 the NATO Defence Planning Committee granted the E-3A Component the status of a NATO International Military Headquarters.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Following NATO’s decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force program and to make the base near Teveren the Main Operating Base of the E­3A Component, a major construction program was started in 1980 to modify the operational and support facilities.