Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Newport News, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF), Newport News, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,703 miles (or 5,959 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 Newport News/Williamsburg 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 Newport News/Williamsburg 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):

• 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 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.
• The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
• 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.
• 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.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
• In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.

Facts about Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF):

• In addition to being known as "Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport", another name for PHF is "Patrick Henry Field".
• Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,749 miles (18,908 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Newport News/Williamsburg 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.
• The closest airport to Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) is Langley Field (LFI), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of PHF.
• When the original control tower was shut down in July 2007 with the opening of the state of the art 147 ft tall new tower, it had been the oldest operating control tower on the east coast with continuous service for 55 years.
• Concourse A opened in May 2010 as the airport's second concourse.
• When the United States Congress deregulated the airlines in 1978, many airlines serving Patrick Henry Airport consolidated their southeast Virginia services at other area airports.