Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Sugawa, Fukushima, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Fukushima Airport (FKS), Sugawa, Fukushima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,746 miles (or 9,247 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 Fukushima 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 Fukushima 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):

• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• 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.
• 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 is located in the Federal Republic of Germany, near the village of Teveren and six kilometers west of the town of Geilenkirchen.
• 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 E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Fukushima Airport (FKS):

• The furthest airport from Fukushima Airport (FKS) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Fukushima Airport (FKS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Fukushima Airport", other names for FKS include "福島空港" and "Fukushima Kūkō".
• The airport remained operational during and following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, and temporarily saw increased domestic service during the closure of the Tōhoku Shinkansen high-speed rail line to Tokyo.
• The closest airport to Fukushima Airport (FKS) is Utsunomiya Air Field (QUT), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) SSW of FKS.