Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN), Aguadilla, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,244 miles (or 6,830 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Rafael Hernández 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Rafael Hernández 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The construction attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe as the flying field of RAF Alconbury was attacked by German bombers on 16 September 1940, although no serious damage was done.
• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• The technical site on the north-west side was expanded where a single T2 hangar was also erected.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
• In May 1942, RAF Alconbury was allocated to the United States Eighth Air Force when a number of stations in East Anglia were turned over to the Americans after their entry into the war.
• In 1937, Royal Air Force Bomber Command was drawing up plans for dispersal of their aircraft in the event of air raids on its stations.
• Royal Air Force Alconbury or RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station in the United Kingdom, located in Huntingdon, England.

Facts about Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN):

• The capacity of the airport and its role as the main gateway to Porta del Sol has led local officials to take the position that the airport is extremely undeserved in a region which accounts for one third of Puerto Rico's total population, with the mayor of the Aguadilla asking for the airport to be transferred to the city on several occasions.
• In the mid and late 1970s, the Ahrens Aircraft Corporation attempted to set up operations at former USAF industrial facilities at the airport in order to manufacture the Ahrens AR 404 regional airliner, a short takeoff and landing turboprop aircraft, with financial incentives promised by the Puerto Rican government for development.
• Because of Rafael Hernández Airport's relatively low elevation of 237 feet, planes can take off or land at Rafael Hernández 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.
• The furthest airport from Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Rafael Hernández Airport (meaning Rafael Hernández Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,204 miles (19,641 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• Rafael Hernández Airport covers an area of over 3100 acres.
• In 2000, North American Airlines reopened passenger service with a non-stop flight to New York JFK three times a week.
• The closest airport to Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN) is Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) S of BQN.
• Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN) currently has only 1 runway.