Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lübeck (near Hamburg), Schleswig-Holstein, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lübeck Airport (LBC), Lübeck (near Hamburg), Schleswig-Holstein, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,657 miles (or 7,495 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Lübeck 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Lübeck 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• Great Falls became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
• Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin.
• Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.
• The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• With the phaseout of the B-36 from the inventory in the late 1950s, the need for fighter escorts of SAC bombers was eliminated.
• Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
• In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
• After World War II ended Great Falls AAB assumed a support mission for military personnel assigned to Alaskan military installations.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.

Facts about Lübeck Airport (LBC):

• In addition to being known as "Lübeck Airport", another name for LBC is "Flughafen Lübeck".
• The furthest airport from Lübeck Airport (LBC) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,674 miles (18,787 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Infratil, an infrastructure investment company from New Zealand held a 90% shareholding from November 2005 until the end of October 2009 when it sold its shares back to the City of Lübeck.
• In June 2014 Ryanair announced to leave Lübeck Airport as of October 2014 due to the airport's uncertain future.
• Because of Lübeck Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Lübeck 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.
• Lübeck Airport handled 537,835 passengers last year.
• There are some additional holiday charter routes on behalf of local tour operators which are served only a few times a season.
• The closest airport to Lübeck Airport (LBC) is Hamburg Airport (HAM), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) WSW of LBC.
• Lübeck Airport (LBC) currently has only 1 runway.