Nonstop flight route between Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands and Alton, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands and St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN), Alton, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,426 miles (or 7,122 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 Maastricht Aachen Airport and St. Louis Regional Airport, 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 Maastricht Aachen Airport and St. Louis Regional Airport. 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 Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST):

• Because of the proximity to the new headquarters, the decision was made to create a temporary airfield between the towns of Beek, Geulle and Ulestraten.
• A promotion campaign by the Dutch tourist board for the nearby town of Valkenburg aan de Geul, aimed at British tourists, was highly successful and brought services by Invicta Airlines, Britannia and Channel Airways.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport handled 36,300 passengers last year.
• Because of Maastricht Aachen Airport's relatively low elevation of 375 feet, planes can take off or land at Maastricht Aachen 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.
• Around 1980 the airport changed its name to "Maastricht Airport".
• The closest airport to Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) ENE of MST.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) currently has only 1 runway.
• The instrument landing system for runway 21 was upgraded to category III in 2008, which allows landings in very low visibility conditions.
• The late 1950s and early 1960s brought significant expansion in commercial operations at the airport.
• The furthest airport from Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,935 miles (19,207 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN):

• The furthest airport from St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,002 miles (17,706 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• West Star Aviation is the largest fixed base operations company at the airport.
• The closest airport to St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) is Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) WSW of ALN.
• St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) has 2 runways.
• Its operations are paid for by an airport taxation district created in 1946, which collects taxes from property owners in the Madison County townships of Alton, Wood River, Foster and Fort Russell.
• Because of St. Louis Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 544 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Louis Regional 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.
• In the spring of 2004 the airport was at the center of a scandal.