Nonstop flight route between Frankfurt, Germany and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt, Germany and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,116 miles (or 8,234 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB, 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB. 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):

• With the foundation of Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926 a rapid boom of civilian air travel started and soon the airship base became too small to handle the demand.
• On 11 October 2011, the Hessian Administration Court ruled that night flights between 11pm and 5am are no longer allowed at Frankfurt Airport after the inauguration of the new runway, and therefore overrode the approval from the Hessian government from 2007 which allowed 17 scheduled flights per night.
• 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.
• The new terminal, called Terminal Mitte and divided into three concourses with 56 gates and an electric baggage handling system, was opened to the public on 14 March 1972.
• Frankfurt Airport is by far the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Germany, the third busiest in Europe after London Heathrow Airport and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and the 10th busiest worldwide in 2013.
• In addition to being known as "Frankfurt Airport", another name for FRA is "Flughafen Frankfurt am Main".
• Frankfurt Airport handled 5,752,725 passengers last year.
• Frankfurt Airport lies 12 km southwest of central Frankfurt, near the Autobahn intersection Frankfurter Kreuz, where two of the most heavily used motorways in Europe meet.
• In 1999 a second train station, primarily for InterCityExpress long-distance trains, opened near Terminal 1 as part of the new Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line.
• Terminal 1 is primarily used by Lufthansa, its associated companies and its Star Alliance partners.
• 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.
• Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• The southern side of the airport ground was home to the Rhein-Main Air Base, which was a major air base for the United States from 1947 until 2005, when the air base was closed and the property was acquired by Fraport.
• On 30 December 2005, the Rhein-Main Air Base in the southern part of the airport ground was closed and the US Air Force moved to Ramstein Air Base.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• The McChord Air Museum features exhibits about McChord Field and a collection of restored military aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• The furthest airport from McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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.
• Starting in mid-1943 the training of B-17 and B-24 replacement crews began to be phased out, as the Second Air Force began ramping up training of B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bomb groups, destined for Twentieth Air Force.
• In 1968, McChord AFB was relieved of its assignment to the subsequently renamed Aerospace Defense Command and was reassigned to Military Airlift Command as one of three MAC bases in the western United States operating the C-141 Starlifter.
• McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in Pierce County, Washington, United States.
• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• McChord also had large maintenance facilities for Air Technical Service Command during the war, serving served as a P-39 Aircobra modification center April 1944 – May 1945 for lend-lease aircraft being sent to Russia via the Alaska Territory.
• The ADC radar site was deactivated 1 April 1960 and repositioned to Fort Lawton AFS where the Air Force consolidated its anti-aircraft radars with the United States Army Seattle Defense Area Army Air-Defense Command Post S-90DC for Nike missile operations.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.