Nonstop flight route between St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH), Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,530 miles (or 8,900 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 Leuchars and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International 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 RAF Leuchars and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International 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 RAF Leuchars (ADX):

• A third Panavia Tornado F3 Squadron, No.
• The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• RAF Leuchars is commanded by an Air Commodore instead of a Group Captain who would usually be given command of a station.
• The next generation of jets to be stationed at Leuchars were the Hawker Hunter and the Gloster Javelin, with air-sea rescue services provided by Westland Whirlwind helicopters.
• Like so many RAF stations, the airfield itself owes its existence to the stimulus of war, and work began on levelling the existing site on Reres Farm in 1916.
• On 18 July 2011 Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced that RAF Leuchars would close, whilst RAF Lossiemouth in Moray would be spared as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review.
• In 1935 Leuchars became home to Number 1 Flying Training School and ranges for practice bombing were established in Tentsmuir Forest.
• As the Navy embraced the value of aviation, the aircraft carrier was added to its inventory.
• The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.

Facts about Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH):

• Because of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport", another name for ZIH is "Aeropuerto Internacional de Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo".
• The closest airport to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH) is Lázaro Cárdenas Airport (LZC), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) WNW of ZIH.
• Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo International Airport (ZIH) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,433 miles (18,399 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.