Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Doha, Qatar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Hamad International Airport (DOH), Doha, Qatar would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,977 miles (or 4,791 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 Hamad 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 Hamad 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):

• 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.
• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Flying operations at Geilenkirchen ended in January 1968 and the installation was handed over to the German Air Force in March 1968.
• 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 Hamad International Airport (DOH):

• Hamad International Airport was designed to deal with the growing volume of traffic at the existing airport.
• Because of Hamad International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Hamad International 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.
• The furthest airport from Hamad International Airport (DOH) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to Hamad International Airport (meaning Hamad International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,001 miles (19,313 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Hamad International Airport", other names for DOH include "مطار حمد الدولي" and "OTHH[1]".
• Hamad International Airport welcomed its first flight, a Qatar Airways Airbus A320 carrying 130 high profile guests on board, at 11:30 AM Doha Time.
• Cargo operations began from 1 December 2013, with an inaugural flight by Qatar Airways Cargo arriving from Europe.
• The closest airport to Hamad International Airport (DOH) is Al-Udeid Air Base (IUD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) WSW of DOH.
• Hamad International Airport (DOH) has 2 runways.