Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Zürich, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Great Falls International Airport (GTF), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,949 miles (or 7,964 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 Great Falls International Airport and Zurich 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 Great Falls International Airport and Zurich 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 Great Falls International Airport (GTF):

• 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 143,811 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 146,438 in 2009 and 155,204 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Great Falls International Airport (GTF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,498 miles (16,896 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Great Falls International Airport (GTF) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Great Falls International Airport (GTF) is Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) E of GTF.
• In 2011 the airport recorded the most boardings in its history.
• In addition to being known as "Great Falls International Airport", another name for GTF is "(former Great Falls Army Airfield)".
• In 1975 the terminal was replaced and all runways, aprons, and taxiways updated.
• Great Falls International Airport is home to Great Falls Air National Guard Base and the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Fighter Wing, the "Vigilantes." An Air National Guard unit operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command, the 120 FW transitioned from the F-16C Fighting Falcon to the F-15C Eagle in January 2009, which it employs in the air defense and air dominance missions.

Facts about Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace.
• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• The airport is served by the A51 motorway and other main roads, which provide access to the airport especially for the central and eastern Switzerland.
• Swiss International Air Lines has an office on the property of Zurich Airport and in Kloten, consisting of the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie buildings.Swiss World Cargo has its head office in the Alpha and Bravo buildings.Swiss Private Aviation has its head office in the Swiss complex.Swiss European Air Lines and Swiss AviationTraining, subsidiaries of Swiss, are also headquartered on the airport property.
• The first expansion of the airport was submitted in 1956, but the budget for the expansion was not approved by the Swiss Government until 1958 and the expansion was completed in 1961.