Nonstop flight route between Chicago, Illinois, United States and Basel, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois, United States and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL), Basel, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,387 miles (or 7,060 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 Chicago O'Hare International Airport and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg, 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 Chicago O'Hare International Airport and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg. 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 Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD):

• By the early 1950s, Chicago Midway International Airport, Chicago's primary airport since 1931, had become too crowded despite multiple expansions and could not handle the planned first generation of jets.
• American Airlines, United Airlines and Trans World Airlines had many routes to the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest.
• All fixed-wing scheduled airline service in Chicago moved from Midway to O'Hare by July 1962.
• Because of Chicago O'Hare International Airport's relatively low elevation of 668 feet, planes can take off or land at Chicago O'Hare International 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.
• Concourses B and C are linear concourses located in separate buildings parallel to each other.
• Delta moved from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 in 2009 in order to align its operations with merger partner Northwest Airlines.
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) has 8 runways.
• The closest airport to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) N of ORD.
• The furthest airport from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,071 miles (17,817 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL):

• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) has 2 runways.
• Because of EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg's relatively low elevation of 885 feet, planes can take off or land at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg 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 EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) is EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (MLH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BSL.
• Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport.
• Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss-French airport started in the 1930s, but were halted by the Second World War.
• EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg handled 5,880,771 passengers last year.
• In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres north of Blotzheim, France.
• The furthest airport from EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (meaning EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,113 miles (19,493 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended.
• From 2007 until 2009, Ryanair also flew to the airport.
• In addition to being known as "EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg", other names for BSL include "Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse", "Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen" and "BSL, MLH".