Nonstop flight route between Frankfurt, Germany and Des Moines, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt, Germany and Des Moines International Airport (DSM), Des Moines, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,562 miles (or 7,342 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 Frankfurt Airport and Des Moines International 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 Frankfurt Airport and Des Moines International 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 Frankfurt Airport (FRA):

• In 1990, work on a new terminal began because it was anticipated that Terminal Mitte would reach its capacity limit sooner than expected.
• The closest airport to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of FRA.
• Frankfurt Airport handled 5,752,725 passengers last year.
• Because of Frankfurt Airport's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Frankfurt 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.
• On 10 October 2012, an 800-meter-long westward expansion of Terminal 1 called Pier A-Plus went into operation.
• The furthest airport from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,946 miles (19,225 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1951 restrictions for German air travellers were lifted and civil air traffic started to grow again.
• Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has 3 runways.
• The center line separation from the existing north runway is about 1,400 meters.
• In addition to being known as "Frankfurt Airport", another name for FRA is "Flughafen Frankfurt am Main".
• The airport is centrally located in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, Germany's second-largest metropolitan region, which itself has a central location in the densely populated region of the west-central European megalopolis.
• The Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport and Airship Base was officially opened on 8 July 1936.

Facts about Des Moines International Airport (DSM):

• On December 18, 2010, a small red Beechcraft Bonanza crashed while performing an emergency landing at DSM.
• Des Moines International Airport (DSM) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• In 2012, the airport had 1,038,484 enplanementsFederal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 919,990 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 853,596 in 2009 and 932,828 in 2011.
• 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 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.
• The airport hosts the Des Moines Air National Guard Base and 132d Fighter Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard.