Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and East London, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and East London Airport (ELS), East London, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,139 miles (or 9,879 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 East London 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 East London 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 closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.
• The technical site on the north-west side was expanded where a single T2 hangar was also erected.
• 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.
• RAF Alconbury is about 0.308 sq mi in area.
• During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,
• The total area of land occupied by RAF Alconbury in 1942 was about 500 acres with 100 acres taken up by concrete and buildings.
• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.

Facts about East London Airport (ELS):

• The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.
• Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting.
• The furthest airport from East London Airport (ELS) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,569 miles (18,618 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• East London Airport is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa.
• East London's airport is a small but bustling one that plays an important role in the growing economy of the Eastern Cape.
• East London Airport (ELS) has 2 runways.
• Because of East London Airport's relatively low elevation of 436 feet, planes can take off or land at East London 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 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site, 9 km west of the city centre.
• The closest airport to East London Airport (ELS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WSW of ELS.