Nonstop flight route between Axum, Ethiopia and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU), Axum, Ethiopia and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,399 miles (or 5,470 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 Axum Emperor Yohannes IV 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 Axum Emperor Yohannes IV 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 Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU):

• Because of Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport's high elevation of 6,916 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AXU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AXU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 2 May 1987, Douglas C-47A ET-AGT of Ethiopian Airlines was destroyed on the ground in an attack on the airport by Ethiopian Air Force MiG-23s.
• The closest airport to Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU) is Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) SE of AXU.
• In addition to being known as "Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport", another name for AXU is "የአክሱም ዮሃነስ አራት የአየር ማረፊያ".
• The furthest airport from Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (AXU) is Fangatau Airport (FGU), which is nearly antipodal to Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport (meaning Axum Emperor Yohannes IV Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fangatau Airport), and is located 12,318 miles (19,824 kilometers) away in Fangatau, French Polynesia.
• Axum Airport, also known as Emperor Yohannes IV Airport, is an airport serving Axum, a city in the northern Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• 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 Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.