Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Chifeng Airport (CIF), Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,841 miles (or 7,791 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 Chifeng 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 Chifeng 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):

• Surrounded by farmland and a natural woodland reserve, the base was originally built by the Royal Air Force after World War II and operated as RAF Geilenkirchen from 1953 onwards.
• 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.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• Since that time, most of the buildings on base have been renovated to present day standards and several new buildings have been erected.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• 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).
• Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading.
• 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.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Chifeng Airport (CIF):

• The furthest airport from Chifeng Airport (CIF) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Chifeng Airport (meaning Chifeng Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,300 miles (19,795 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Chifeng Airport (CIF) is Chaoyang Airport (CHG), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) ESE of CIF.
• In addition to being known as "Chifeng Airport", other names for CIF include "赤峰玉龙机场" and "Cèfēng Yùlóng Jīchǎng".