Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Sanya, Hainan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), Sanya, Hainan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,005 miles (or 9,664 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 Sanya Phoenix 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 Sanya Phoenix 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):

• 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 closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
• 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.
• Opened in 1938, it is currently a non-flying facility under the control of the United States Air Force.
• 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.
• The commercial buildings and barracks were dispersed in nearby farmland to the south east of the airfield on the other side of the A14 highway.
• During this period, RAF Alconbury consisted of a few wooden huts but plans were made to provide both refuelling and rearmament facilities.

Facts about Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX):

• In addition to being known as "Sanya Phoenix International Airport", other names for SYX include "三亚凤凰国际机场" and "Sānyà Fènghuáng Guójì Jīcháng".
• In 2012, Sanya Airport handled 11,343,387 passengers, making it the 19th busiest airport in China in terms of passengers, and 24th busiest in terms of movements with 81,456 in 2012.
• The furthest airport from Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX) is Chacalluta International Airport (ARI), which is nearly antipodal to Sanya Phoenix International Airport (meaning Sanya Phoenix International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chacalluta International Airport), and is located 12,420 miles (19,988 kilometers) away in Arica, Chile.
• The closest airport to Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX) is Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK), which is located 132 miles (212 kilometers) NNE of SYX.
• Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX) currently has only 1 runway.