Nonstop flight route between Zürich, Switzerland and Patuxent River, Maryland, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland and Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK), Patuxent River, Maryland, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,131 miles (or 6,648 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 Zurich Airport and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, 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 Zurich Airport and Naval Air Station Patuxent River. 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 Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace.
• Zurich Airport railway station is located underneath the terminal.
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• The airport has three airside piers, which are known as docks A, B and E.
• Edelweiss Air has its head office in the Edelweiss Air Operations Center on the airport grounds.gategroup has its head office on the airport property.Helvetic Airways has its head office on the grounds of the airport in Kloten.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.
• In front of the terminal is a regional bus station and the airport stop of the Stadtbahn Glattal, a light rail system.
• Zurich Airport, also known as Zurich Kloten Airport, is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines.
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• The first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921, but the search for a location for a major airport wasn’t started until 1943 inside the Canton of Zürich.

Facts about Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK):

• The base became a center for testing as several facilities were constructed throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
• The closest airport to Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) is St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of NHK.
• A lack of transportation in Saint Mary's County led the Navy to acquire and revitalize a branchline called theWashington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad from Brandywine to Mechanicsville, Maryland in June 1942 and build an extension south from Mechanicsville to the air station.
• Research and development at NAS Patuxent River forged ahead in the 1970s.
• Commissioned on April 1, 1943 on land largely acquired through eminent domain, the air station grew rapidly in response to World War II and continued to evolve through the Cold War to the present.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,728 miles (18,874 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Naval Air Station Patuxent River's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River 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.
• Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) has 3 runways.
• By 1965, reconnaissance Squadron VQ-4, based at NAS Patuxent River, began using Lockheed C-130s equipped with special communications equipment to perform their around-the-clock Take Charge and Move Out mission.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Patuxent River", other names for NHK include "Trapnell Field" and "KNHK - FAA: NHK".