Nonstop flight route between Rostock, Germany and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG), Rostock, Germany and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,696 miles (or 9,167 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 Rostock–Laage Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Rostock–Laage Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG):

• In addition to being known as "Rostock–Laage Airport", another name for RLG is "Flughafen Rostock–Laage".
• The nearest major international airports are Berlin Tegel Airport 190 kilometres to the south and Hamburg Airport 200 kilometres to the west.
• The closest airport to Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) is Stralsund Barth Airport (BBH), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) NNE of RLG.
• The furthest airport from Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,635 miles (18,724 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Rostock–Laage Airport's relatively low elevation of 138 feet, planes can take off or land at Rostock–Laage 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.
• Construction of the airport began in 1979 as a National People's Army facility.
• Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized Lockheed C/MC-130 Hercules aircraft to the wing.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".