Nonstop flight route between Covilhã, Portugal and Berlin, Germany:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from COV to GWW:
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- About this route
- COV Airport Information
- GWW Airport Information
- Facts about COV
- Facts about GWW
- Map of Nearest Airports to COV
- List of Nearest Airports to COV
- Map of Furthest Airports from COV
- List of Furthest Airports from COV
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWW
- List of Nearest Airports to GWW
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWW
- List of Furthest Airports from GWW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Covilhã Airport (COV), Covilhã, Portugal and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,287 miles (or 2,071 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 relatively short distance between Covilhã Airport and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | COV / LPCV |
| Airport Name: | Covilhã Airport |
| Location: | Covilhã, Portugal |
| GPS Coordinates: | 40°15'52"N by 7°28'48"W |
| Elevation: | 1572 feet (479 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from COV |
| More Information: | COV Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWW / EDBG |
| Airport Name: | Royal Air Force Station Gatow |
| Location: | Berlin, Germany |
| GPS Coordinates: | 52°28'27"N by 13°8'17"E |
| Operator/Owner: | formerly: Ministry of Defence, now: Bundeswehr |
| Airport Type: | Military (airport no longer in operation) |
| Elevation: | 161 feet (49 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GWW |
| More Information: | GWW Maps & Info |
Facts about Covilhã Airport (COV):
- The closest airport to Covilhã Airport (COV) is Coimbra Airport (CBP), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) W of COV.
- The furthest airport from Covilhã Airport (COV) is Takaka Aerodrome (KTF), which is nearly antipodal to Covilhã Airport (meaning Covilhã Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takaka Aerodrome), and is located 12,390 miles (19,940 kilometers) away in Takaka, New Zealand.
- Covilhã Airport (COV) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):
- Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest military neighbour to RAF Gatow was a tank unit of the National People's Army of East Germany.
- After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chipmunk reconnaissance flights soon ceased and the two Chipmunks were flown to RAF Laarbruch, in Western Germany to await disposal action.
- These aircraft were also used for reconnaissance missions in co-operation with The British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany, commonly known as BRIXMIS.
- Late April 1945, towards the end of World War II in Europe, the airfield was occupied by the advancing Red Army.
- Alongside the Royal Air Force and various British civil aviation companies, the United States Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the South African Air Force all flew supplies into RAF Gatow during the Airlift.
- The novel Air Bridge by Hammond Innes is partially set in RAF Gatow at the time of the Berlin Airlift, and is notable for its accurate descriptions of the Station, including corridors and rooms within it.
- Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow 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 airfield was originally constructed in 1934 and 1935 by the Luftwaffe as a staff and technical college, Luftkriegsschule 2 Berlin-Gatow, in imitation of the Royal Air Force College at RAF Cranwell.
- The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.
- During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
