Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Bengbu, Anhui, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Bengbu Airport (BFU), Bengbu, Anhui, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,303 miles (or 8,534 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 NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component and Bengbu 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 NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component and Bengbu 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 NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE):

• The furthest airport from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,929 miles (19,198 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In January 1980 the first E-3A Component personnel started arriving at the base, and in October 1980 the NATO Defence Planning Committee granted the E-3A Component the status of a NATO International Military Headquarters.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
• The Component operates seventeen Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft all of which are based on the Boeing 707 airframe Trainer Cargo Aircraft but which have since been retired).
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• The closest airport to NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) is Merzbrück Airfield (AAH), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSE of GKE.
• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component's relatively low elevation of 296 feet, planes can take off or land at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component 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.

Facts about Bengbu Airport (BFU):

• In addition to being known as "Bengbu Airport", other names for BFU include "蚌埠机场" and "Bèngbù Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Bengbu Airport (BFU) is Rosario – Islas Malvinas International Airport (ROS), which is nearly antipodal to Bengbu Airport (meaning Bengbu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rosario – Islas Malvinas International Airport), and is located 12,327 miles (19,838 kilometers) away in Rosario, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Bengbu Airport (BFU) is Hefei Luogang International Airport (HFE), which is located 74 miles (119 kilometers) S of BFU.
• Originally, the Bengbu Airport was located very close to Bengbu's urban area.
• In August 2002, the new airport was opened for military use.