Nonstop flight route between Sembach, Germany and El Prat de Llobregat (near Barcelona), Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX), Sembach, Germany and Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN), El Prat de Llobregat (near Barcelona), Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 634 miles (or 1,020 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 relatively short distance between Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base and Barcelona–El Prat Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX):

• In 1950, as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, the United States was rapidly expanding its air forces, announcing an increase in the number of combat wings from 48 in 1950 to 95 by June 1952.
• The furthest airport from Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• As part of the general withdrawal of French occupation forces from the left bank of the Rhine in 1930, the French abandoned the airfield on June 15, 1930.
• During the Cold War, Sembach Air Base housed a variety of USAF Tactical Reconnaissance, Close Air Support and Tactical Air Control units as a front line NATO air base.
• On 1 January 1957 a fourth squadron, the 19th TRS was transferred from the 47th Bombardment Wing at RAF Sculthorpe to the 66th TRW.
• Sembach serves a population of about 2,000.
• The closest airport to Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX) is Ramstein Air Base (RMS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of SEX.
• Another reason for the move to France was the unsuitability of Sembach's runway, which was barely adequate for the RF-84, but absolutely unsuitable for the higher performance RF-101 aircraft
• During the remainder of the winter, the control tower, hangars, repair shops and other buildings were built along the taxiway.

Facts about Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN):

• In addition to being known as "Barcelona–El Prat Airport", another name for BCN is "Aeroport de Barcelona–El Prat".
• The Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona public bus line 46 runs from Plaça Espanya.
• Because of Barcelona–El Prat Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Barcelona–El Prat 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.
• The furthest airport from Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelona–El Prat Airport (meaning Barcelona–El Prat Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Due to the strong drop in air traffic after 1999 and the crisis in the aviation sector in 2001 many charter operations from Girona and Reus were diverted to El Prat, which helped the airport to survive the crisis.
• The airport is the second largest in Spain behind Madrid Barajas Airport and 31st busiest in the world, and is the main airport of Catalonia.
• The forecast is that the airport will be able to handle 55 million passengers annually and will reach 90 operations an hour.
• Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) is Sabadell Airport (QSA), which is located only 15 miles (25 kilometers) N of BCN.
• The extension of the airport with a total investment of €5.1 billion in the future will include a new satellite terminal and refurbishment of existing terminals.