Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Huai'an, Jiangsu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA), Huai'an, Jiangsu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,456 miles (or 8,781 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 Huai'an Lianshui 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 Huai'an Lianshui 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.
• Also in 1942, to bring the station up to Class A airfield standards, the runways were extended to 2,000 yards, and 1,400 yards, with 26 additional hardstands along with the taxiways altered.
• RAF Alconbury is also the home of the 501st Combat Support Wing.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• 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.
• The technical site on the north-west side was expanded where a single T2 hangar was also erected.
• The host unit at RAF Alconbury is the 423rd Air Base Group which supplies host unit services for Alconbury as well as RAF Molesworth.

Facts about Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA):

• The furthest airport from Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Junín Airport (JNI), which is nearly antipodal to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (meaning Huai'an Lianshui Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Junín Airport), and is located 12,384 miles (19,929 kilometers) away in Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport handled 230,000 passengers last year.
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Huai'an Lianshui Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Huai'an Lianshui 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 addition to being known as "Huai'an Lianshui Airport", other names for HIA include "淮安涟水机场" and "Huái'ān Liánshuǐ Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Lianyungang Baitabu Airport (LYG), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) NNW of HIA.
• In 2011, its first full year of operation, Huai'an Airport handled 230,000 passengers to become the 99th busiest airport in China.