Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Carrillo, Costa Rica:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (RIK), Carrillo, Costa Rica would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,480 miles (or 8,819 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 Playa Sámara/Carrillo 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 Playa Sámara/Carrillo 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):

• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• The total area of land occupied by RAF Alconbury in 1942 was about 500 acres with 100 acres taken up by concrete and buildings.

Facts about Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (RIK):

• The furthest airport from Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (RIK) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (meaning Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,212 miles (19,654 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport", another name for RIK is "RIK[1]".
• The closest airport to Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (RIK) is Punta Islita Airport (PBP), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) E of RIK.
• Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport (RIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Playa Sámara/Carrillo Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Playa Sámara/Carrillo 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.