Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Confins (near Belo Horizonte), Minas Gerais, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF), Confins (near Belo Horizonte), Minas Gerais, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,741 miles (or 9,239 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 Tancredo Neves/Confins International 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 Tancredo Neves/Confins International 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 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.
• 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.
• Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading.
• 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).
• 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.

Facts about Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF):

• In addition to being known as "Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport", another name for CNF is "Aeroporto Internacional Tancredo Neves/Confins".
• On 22 November 2013 the Brazilian Government had a bidding process to determine the airport's private operator from 2014 until 2044.
• The airport was built by Infraero and inaugurated in 1984.
• On 26 April 2011 it was confirmed that in order to speed-up much needed renovation and up-grade works, private companies will be granted a concession to explore some Infraero airports among them, on a second phase, Confins.
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL342.3 million investiment plan to up-grade Tancredo Neves International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Belo Horizonte being one of the venue cities.
• The airport is located 38 km north of downtown Belo Horizonte.
• Its cargo facilities have a capacity of handling 18.000 tones and the warehouse has 6.400 m².
• Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF) is Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) S of CNF.
• Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport handled 10,301,288 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 11,945 miles (19,224 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• After its inauguration, just a small fraction of the capacity of Confins was used.