Nonstop flight route between Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Nelson Lagoon Airport (NLG), Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,010 miles (or 8,062 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 Nelson Lagoon 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 Nelson Lagoon 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 E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.
• Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time.
• 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.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Nelson Lagoon Airport (NLG):

• In addition to being known as "Nelson Lagoon Airport", another name for NLG is "OUL".
• The furthest airport from Nelson Lagoon Airport (NLG) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,914 miles (17,564 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Nelson Lagoon Airport (NLG) is Port Moller Airport (PML), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) E of NLG.
• Because of Nelson Lagoon Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Nelson Lagoon 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.
• Nelson Lagoon Airport (NLG) currently has only 1 runway.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, this airport had 290 commercial passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, a decrease of 4% from the 302 enplanements in 2007.