Nonstop flight route between Berlin, Germany and Fukuoka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany and Fukuoka Airport (FUK), Fukuoka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,398 miles (or 8,687 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow and Fukuoka 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow and Fukuoka 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
• The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow 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.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
• RAF Gatow was also used as a civilian airport for a limited time.
• To commemorate Australian participation in the Airlift, the Royal Australian Air Force presented RAF Gatow with a retired Douglas Dakota in the 1980s, to use as a gate guardian.
• Clues to the airfield's original use survive in the barrack block accommodation, each block of which was named after a famous German airman of the First World War, with the airman's bust above the entrance door.
• RAF Gatow was from 1970 also used by the UKs Army Air Corps, 7 Aviation Flight AAC, later renamed 7 Flight AAC being based at the station initially flying four Westland Sioux and later three Aérospatiale Gazelle AH 1 helicopters.
• Also on the site of the former RAF station, but not part of General-Steinhoff Kaserne, is a school, the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium, and houses for government employees of the Federal Republic of Germany.
• The closest airport to Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.

Facts about Fukuoka Airport (FUK):

• At its height, Itazuke AB was the largest USAF base on Kyūshū, but was closed in 1972 due to budget reductions and the overall reduction of United States military forces in Japan.
• In the mid-1990s, Delta Air Lines operated a non-stop flight between Fukuoka and its transpacific hub in Portland, Oregon, but later dropped the route due to financial pressure.
• The closest airport to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSW of FUK.
• The furthest airport from Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Fukuoka Airport (meaning Fukuoka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,719 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In 1971 it was announced that Itazuke would be returned to Japanese control, and the USAF facilities were closed on 31 March 1972.
• In addition to being known as "Fukuoka Airport", other names for FUK include "福岡空港" and "Fukuoka KūkōItazuke Air Base".
• On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting a war that would last three years.
• Fukuoka Airport (FUK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Fukuoka Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Fukuoka 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.