Nonstop flight route between Wichita, Kansas, United States and Zürich, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB), Wichita, Kansas, United States and Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,996 miles (or 8,040 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 McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield 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 McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield 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 McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB):

• Wichita Airport was returned to civilian jurisdiction, and it remained so until 1951.
• The furthest airport from McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,740 miles (17,285 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield", another name for IAB is "McConnell AFB".
• The closest airport to McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB) is Cessna Aircraft Field (CEA), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) NNE of IAB.
• McConnell's primary mission is to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed.
• In October 1962, the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing was reactivated at McConnell with four fighter squadrons.
• Up to 1 April 1952 the activity at Wichita Municipal Airport was under the jurisdiction of the Flying Training Air Force.
• McConnell's history began in October 1924, when the city of Wichita hosted more than 100,000 people for the National Air Congress.

Facts about Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• When Swissair existed, its head office was at Zurich Airport and in Kloten.
• 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 airport has three airside piers, which are known as docks A, B and E.
• The airport was again submitted and approved for renovation in 1970, and Terminal B was completed in 1971.
• The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948.
• The airport lost a lot of traffic when Swissair shut down its operations.
• Rega, the air rescue service, has its head office in the Rega Centre, a hangar located in the northeast section of Zurich Airport.