Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Alotau, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Gurney Airport (GUR), Alotau, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,098 miles (or 14,642 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 Gurney 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 Gurney 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):

• 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,
• This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.
• In addition, two underground gasoline storage facilities, with a total capacity of 216,000 gallons were situated at points adjacent to the perimeter track, but at some distance from the explosive storage area.
• 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.

Facts about Gurney Airport (GUR):

• The closest airport to Gurney Airport (GUR) is Vivigani Airport (VIV), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) N of GUR.
• The airport is a single runway general aviation facility, however in December, 2008, the PNG Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Don Polye announced that aviation company Skyworld had been granted permission to operate direct flights from Cairns, Australia to Gurney.
• Gurney Airport (GUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gurney Airport (GUR) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Because of Gurney Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Gurney 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.