Nonstop flight route between Des Moines, Iowa, United States and Zürich, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Des Moines International Airport (DSM), Des Moines, Iowa, United States and Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,669 miles (or 7,514 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 Des Moines International Airport and Zurich 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 Des Moines International Airport and Zurich 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 Des Moines International Airport (DSM):

• This airport is in in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport.
• 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.
• 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.
• As of March 2014, Delta Air Lines handled of DSM passengers, followed by United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, and Frontier Airlines.
• The airport was originally governed by the City of Des Moines' Parks Department.
• In addition to work inside the passenger terminal, the airport is building a rental car facility and new parking facilities.
• Des Moines International Airport (DSM) has 2 runways.
• On December 1, 2007, a United Express plane carrying 44 passengers slid off a taxiway while taxiing to the runway for takeoff.

Facts about Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• The airport was again submitted and approved for renovation in 1970, and Terminal B was completed in 1971.
• In front of the terminal is a regional bus station and the airport stop of the Stadtbahn Glattal, a light rail system.
• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Zurich Airport railway station is located underneath the terminal.
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948.
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.