Nonstop flight route between Charleroi, Wallonia, Belgium and Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), Charleroi, Wallonia, Belgium and Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,550 miles (or 5,713 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 Brussels South Charleroi Airport and Westover Air Reserve Base, 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 Brussels South Charleroi Airport and Westover Air Reserve Base. 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 Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL):

• In addition to being known as "Brussels South Charleroi Airport", another name for CRL is "Aéroport de Charleroi Bruxelles Sud".
• In the 1970s, the Belgian national airline Sabena launched a Liège-Charleroi-London service, but this was soon dropped because of poor results.
• The closest airport to Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is Brussels Airport (BRU), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) N of CRL.
• The furthest airport from Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The European Commission objected to assistance the airport offered to Ryanair, since the airport is owned by the Wallonia regional government and thus the discounts and other benefits could be considered state aid.
• Brussels South Charleroi Airport handled 6,516,427 passengers last year.
• Because of Brussels South Charleroi Airport's relatively low elevation of 614 feet, planes can take off or land at Brussels South Charleroi 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.
• Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• 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.
• Westover Field was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• During World War II Westover saw the training and formation of Airborne engineer aviation battalions to be used for rapidly establishing airfields in forward areas.
• Physically, Westover is the largest Air Force Reserve base in the United States and will expand significantly over the next decade to further encompass Active and Reserve Component activities of the Navy, Marines, Army, and mainline Air Force functions from installations closed by the Base Realignment and Closure process.
• Westover was also the launching point of the heroic Berlin Airlift for 327 days during the Soviet blockade.
• The mission of Westover was to organize and provide initial training to new combat units.