Nonstop flight route between Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia and Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,982 miles (or 16,064 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 Lightning Ridge Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component, 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 Lightning Ridge Airport and NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component. 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 Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG):

• The furthest airport from Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 11,784 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) is Collarenebri Airport (CRB), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of LHG.
• Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) has 2 runways.
• Because of Lightning Ridge Airport's relatively low elevation of 540 feet, planes can take off or land at Lightning Ridge 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.

Facts about NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE):

• 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.
• 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.
• Major construction on the base initially included a new 3,000-metre runway with a width of 45 metres, as well as aprons and taxiways, a control tower, an Information Technology Wing building, on-base accommodation and major renovation of the four existing hangars.
• 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.
• Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located in the Federal Republic of Germany, near the village of Teveren and six kilometers west of the town of Geilenkirchen.
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.