Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,536 miles (or 16,957 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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.
• 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.
• This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.
• 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.
• Opened in 1938, it is currently a non-flying facility under the control of the United States Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• Sydney Airport is one of the oldest continuously operated airports in the world, and the busiest airport in Australia, handling 35,630,549 passengers in 2011 and 326,686 aircraftmovements in 2013.
• Because of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Federal Government has bought most of the required land in a proposed site at Badgerys Creek, west of Sydney.
• In 2002, the Australian Government sold Sydney Airports Corporation Limited, the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd.
• The dedicated Freight Terminal is located north of Terminal 1.
• The furthest airport from Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (meaning Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• The new terminal was officially opened on 3 May 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II.
• By the 1960s the need for a new international terminal had become apparent, and work commenced in late 1966.
• In December 2011, Sydney Airport announced a proposal to divide the airport into two airline-alliance-based precincts.