Nonstop flight route between Oakland (near San Francisco), California, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Oakland International Airport (OAK), Oakland (near San Francisco), California, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,317 miles (or 8,557 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 Oakland International Airport and RAF Benson, 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 Oakland International Airport and RAF Benson. 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 Oakland International Airport (OAK):

• United Airlines vacated its 300,000 sq ft Oakland Maintenance Center in May 2003 and transferred work to its base at San Francisco International Airport.
• Boeing Air Transport began scheduled flights to Oakland in December 1927.
• The furthest airport from Oakland International Airport (OAK) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,354 miles (18,273 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• After the war Oakland's traffic slumped, but airline deregulation prompted several low-fare carriers to begin flights.
• Because of Oakland International Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Oakland International 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.
• Adding to Hawaiian Airlines' service to Honolulu, Alaska Airlines added nonstop service to Kona with three flights weekly and Kahului daily.
• The closest airport to Oakland International Airport (OAK) is Hayward Executive Airport (HWD), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SE of OAK.
• Oakland International Airport (OAK) has 4 runways.
• The top five airlines by passenger count between February 2012 – January 2013 were Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Allegiant, Skywest.
• Oakland International Airport, a revenue division of the Port of Oakland, takes a leadership role in promoting a sustainable operating environment—whether that's looking at current day-to-day operations or forecasting future needs and requirements.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.