Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BEX to HIR:
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- About this route
- BEX Airport Information
- HIR Airport Information
- Facts about BEX
- Facts about HIR
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to HIR
- List of Nearest Airports to HIR
- Map of Furthest Airports from HIR
- List of Furthest Airports from HIR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR), Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,333 miles (or 15,020 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 large distance between RAF Benson and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field), 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 RAF Benson and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field). You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | HIR / AGGH |
Airport Name: | Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) |
Location: | Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 9°25'41"S by 160°3'16"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 28 feet (9 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from HIR |
More Information: | HIR Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
- Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
- Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No.
- The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
- The station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
- The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
Facts about Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR):
- The furthest airport from Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Cap Skirring Airport (CSK), which is nearly antipodal to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (meaning Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap Skirring Airport), and is located 12,138 miles (19,533 kilometers) away in Cap Skirring, Senegal.
- The closest airport to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Mbambanakira Airport (MBU), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) SSW of HIR.
- Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field)'s relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) 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 field was abandoned after the war, but reopened in 1969 as a modernized civilian airport.