Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Guernsey Airport (GCI), Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,866 miles (or 7,831 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 Gray Army Airfield and Guernsey 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 Gray Army Airfield and Guernsey 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• The Air Transport Command.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• The 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1980s developed air-assault strategies with their AH-1 Cobra helicopters based upon experiences learned in Vietnam.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".

Facts about Guernsey Airport (GCI):

• Work started on a new terminal building in 2002, which became operational on 19 April 2004.
• Guernsey Airport (GCI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Atlantic Airlines operates from Bournemouth carrying mail, and from London Luton bringing in newspapers and DHL parcels.
• The furthest airport from Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Guernsey Airport (meaning Guernsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,024 miles (19,350 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The airport was officially opened on 5 May 1939.
• In 1960 there were four grass runways, with lengths ranging from 2,040 ft to 3,060 ft.
• Guernsey Airport handled 886,396 passengers last year.
• Because of Guernsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 336 feet, planes can take off or land at Guernsey 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 closest airport to Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Jersey Airport (JER), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of GCI.