Nonstop flight route between Akrotiri, Cyprus and Manston, Kent, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus and Manston Airport (MSE), Manston, Kent, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,950 miles (or 3,138 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 relatively short distance between RAF Akrotiri and Manston Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• Akrotiri is also the winter training grounds of the RAF display team, the Red Arrows.
• The furthest airport from RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,556 miles (18,598 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• Akrotiri has played a crucial role during Britain's recent operations in the Middle East.
• In September 1976 the US U-2 operations were turned over to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, but the U-2 operation at RAF Akrotiri continued to be called Operating Location OH until September 1980.
• After the Suez Crisis, the main emphasis of life on the airfield shifted to helping quell the EOKA revolt and training missions.
• In March 2011, the station was used as a staging base for support aircraft involved in Operation Ellamy.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it is often used by British allies when needed, such as for casualty reception for Americans after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and as a staging post before heading into theatres of combat in the Middle East/Persian Gulf theaters.

Facts about Manston Airport (MSE):

• Its location near the Kent coast gave Manston some advantages over other aerodromes, and regular additions in men and machinery were soon made, particularly from Detling, in early days.
• On 15 October 2013, Infratil announced they would sell the airport to a company wholly owned by Ann Gloag, co-founder of Stagecoach Group.
• The furthest airport from Manston Airport (MSE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,906 miles (19,162 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Manston Airport (MSE) is Lympne Airport (LYM), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SW of MSE.
• Manston Airport handled 8,595 passengers last year.
• In December 2003 the government issued a White Paper on "The Future of Air Transport", which states that Manston "could play a valuable role in meeting local demand and could contribute to regional economic development." The government would support development in principle, "subject to relevant environmental considerations".
• Manston Airport (MSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Manston Airport's relatively low elevation of 178 feet, planes can take off or land at Manston 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.
• After an absence of regular charter services, Aspro Holidays operated a series of summer charter services during the 1992–93 summer season with its in-house airline Inter European Airways to Palma and added a service to Heraklion, which was often operated using their larger Boeing 757 airliner.
• Departures were offered during summer 2011 to Funchal with specialist operator Atlantic Holidays, operated by UK charter airline Monarch Airlines but have since been discontinued.
• Hawker Typhoon and Meteor squadrons were based at Manston during the Second World War.