Nonstop flight route between Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname and Berlin, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM), Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,015 miles (or 8,071 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and Royal Air Force Station Gatow. 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM):

• Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij, 45 kilometres south of Paramaribo.
• Because of Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Johan Adolf Pengel 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.
• With the end of World War II Zandery Airfield was reduced in scope to a skeleton staff.
• The intensive flying of the first two months of the war soon took its toll, however, and by the end of February 1942, the Squadron was forced to report that it had but three B-18A's operational at Zandery and that "....
• The closest airport to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of PBM.
• The furthest airport from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Betoambari Airport (BUW), which is nearly antipodal to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (meaning Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Betoambari Airport), and is located 12,282 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Bau-Bau, Buton, Indonesia.
• Just before the Pearl Harbor Attack, on 3 December, the 99th Squadron was ordered to distant Zandery Field, Dutch Guiana under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, by which the United States occupied the colony to protect bauxite mines.

Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• The airfield was originally constructed in 1934 and 1935 by the Luftwaffe as a staff and technical college, Luftkriegsschule 2 Berlin-Gatow, in imitation of the Royal Air Force College at RAF Cranwell.
• After the Berlin Blockade, RAF Gatow served as an airfield for the British Army's Berlin Infantry Brigade, and was prepared to revert to its role as a supply base, if another Berlin Airlift to West Berlin ever became necessary.
• The General-Steinhoff Kaserne is also home to the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr, the museum of the Air Force which has many displays and much information on German military aviation and the history of the airfield.
• 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.
• 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.
• Alongside the Royal Air Force and various British civil aviation companies, the United States Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the South African Air Force all flew supplies into RAF Gatow during the Airlift.
• In November 1948, the latest RAF transport aircraft, the Handley Page Hastings, was added to the squadrons flying into RAF Gatow and some aircrews and aircraft were redeployed to train replacement aircrews.
• 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.
• The novel Air Bridge by Hammond Innes is partially set in RAF Gatow at the time of the Berlin Airlift, and is notable for its accurate descriptions of the Station, including corridors and rooms within it.
• These aircraft were also used for reconnaissance missions in co-operation with The British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany, commonly known as BRIXMIS.
• The RAF Gatow Station Flight used two De Havilland Chipmunk T10s, one of which is now in the Alliiertenmuseum, to maintain and exercise the British legal right under the Potsdam Agreement to use the airspace over both West and East Berlin, as well as the air corridors to and from West Germany to the city.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.