Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and El Loa Airport (CJC), Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,798 miles (or 10,941 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 El Loa 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 El Loa 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.
• 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 Component’s multinational, fully integrated workforce consists of more than 3,000 military and civilian personnel from 16 NATO member nations.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Following NATO’s decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force program and to make the base near Teveren the Main Operating Base of the E­3A Component, a major construction program was started in 1980 to modify the operational and support facilities.
• An Economic Impact Study compiled by the NATO E-3A Component shows a 2008 economic impact of 275.8 million euro within a 200-kilometer radius of the base.
• 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.
• 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 El Loa Airport (CJC):

• In addition to being known as "El Loa Airport", other names for CJC include "Aeropuerto El Loa" and "El Loa Airdrome".
• El Loa Airport, is the major airport serving Calama, and one of the largest airports in Chile.
• The furthest airport from El Loa Airport (CJC) is Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport (WUZ), which is nearly antipodal to El Loa Airport (meaning El Loa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport), and is located 12,369 miles (19,906 kilometers) away in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China.
• El Loa Airport handled 315,725 passengers last year.
• Because of El Loa Airport's high elevation of 7,543 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CJC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CJC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to El Loa Airport (CJC) is Carolina Airport (CLN), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of CJC.