Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Chennai (Madras), India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Chennai International Airport (MAA), Chennai (Madras), India would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,106 miles (or 8,218 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 Chennai International 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 Chennai International 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 this period, RAF Alconbury consisted of a few wooden huts but plans were made to provide both refuelling and rearmament facilities.
• 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.
• In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
• The total area of land occupied by RAF Alconbury in 1942 was about 500 acres with 100 acres taken up by concrete and buildings.
• The 423 ABG command section and orderly room are located at Alconbury as are many of the support units and recreational facilities for the area.
• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth are the last Second World War-era Eighth Air Force bases in Britain that are still actively in use and controlled by the United States Air Force.

Facts about Chennai International Airport (MAA):

• Chennai International Airport (MAA) has 2 runways.
• Chennai airport has two runways—the 3,658 m long primary runway No.
• The furthest airport from Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,351 miles (18,268 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Tirupati Airport (TIR), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) NW of MAA.
• Chennai International Airport formerly, Madras International Airport is the primary airport serving the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai.
• The aviation history of the city began in 1910, when a city-based Corsican hotelier Giacomo D'Angelis built an aircraft and tested it.
• Because of Chennai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Chennai International 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 2001, Chennai Airport became the first international airport in the country to receive ISO 9001-2000 certification.
• The Air Cargo Complex at the Chennai airport was established in 1978, when all regulatory and facilitating agencies were brought under one roof for faster processing/clearance of international cargo, to cater for air cargo movement in the southern region.
• In addition to being known as "Chennai International Airport", another name for MAA is "Madras Airport Meenambakkam Airport சென்னை பன்னாட்டு வானுர்தி நிலையம்".