Nonstop flight route between Alton, Illinois, United States and Akrotiri, Cyprus:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN), Alton, Illinois, United States and RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,190 miles (or 9,962 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 St. Louis Regional Airport and RAF Akrotiri, 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 St. Louis Regional Airport and RAF Akrotiri. 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 St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN):

• St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Today a fair amount of air traffic and the Direct TV blimp comes for Cardinals playoffs, as Lambert's airport cannot take the blimp.
• Civic Memorial Airport opened in 1946 and received its current name in 1984.

Facts about RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• In the mid-1980s, the US launched retaliatory attacks against Libya after the country's leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, was implicated in terrorist attacks against US military bases.
• 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 U-2s of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used in Operation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information about Hezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• Akrotiri was also the location of the main transmitter of the well known numbers station, the Lincolnshire Poacher, although transmissions ceased in 2008.
• Up until 1974 RAF Akrotiri had a balanced force of aircraft assigned to it, even including No.
• The station commander is double-hatted and is also the officer commanding the Akrotiri or Western Sovereign Base Area, reporting to the commander of British Forces Cyprus who is also the Administrator.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".