Nonstop flight route between Erfurt, Germany and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Erfurt–Weimar Airport (ERF), Erfurt, Germany and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,860 miles (or 9,431 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 Erfurt–Weimar Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Erfurt–Weimar Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Erfurt–Weimar Airport (ERF):

• The furthest airport from Erfurt–Weimar Airport (ERF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,833 miles (19,043 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport's name was changed from Erfurt Airport in 2011, it was felt that from a marketing point of view the addition of Weimar to the name would better sell the area due to its historic importance.
• Erfurt–Weimar Airport (ERF) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Erfurt–Weimar Airport", another name for ERF is "Flughafen Erfurt–Weimar".
• The closest airport to Erfurt–Weimar Airport (ERF) is Hof–Plauen Airport (HOQ), which is located 62 miles (99 kilometers) SE of ERF.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized Lockheed C/MC-130 Hercules aircraft to the wing.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• Twentieth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena on 16 May 1949.
• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB.
• Kadena airfield was initially under the control of Seventh Air Force, however on 16 July 1945, Headquarters Eighth Air Force was transferred, without personnel, equipment, or combat elements to the town of Sakugawa, near Kadena from RAF High Wycombe England.