Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Harlingen, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Valley International Airport (HRL), Harlingen, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,383 miles (or 8,663 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 Valley 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 Valley 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 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.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• 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 is located near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
• The Component’s multinational, fully integrated workforce consists of more than 3,000 military and civilian personnel from 16 NATO member nations.
• The fleet of E-3's has remained in operation since the Cold War and has adapted its mission to emerging security threats, primarily in European airspace.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Valley International Airport (HRL):

• The closest airport to Valley International Airport (HRL) is Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (BRO), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SSE of HRL.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 417,557 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 367,269 in 2009 and 373,438 in 2010.
• Valley International Airport (HRL) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Valley International Airport (HRL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,151 miles (17,946 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Valley International Airport is a city owned airport three miles northeast of Harlingen, in Cameron County, Texas.
• After the airport's closure by the military, it was turned over to the local government and converted to civil use as Valley International Airport after Hurricane Beulah flooded the original Harlingen civil airport in 1967.
• Because of Valley International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Valley 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.