Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Qingdao, Shandong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO), Qingdao, Shandong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,349 miles (or 8,609 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 Qingdao Liuting 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 Qingdao Liuting 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 late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
• In addition, two underground gasoline storage facilities, with a total capacity of 216,000 gallons were situated at points adjacent to the perimeter track, but at some distance from the explosive storage area.
• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• 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 423 ABG command section and orderly room are located at Alconbury as are many of the support units and recreational facilities for the area.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO):

• Qingdao Liuting International Airport is the main airport serving the city of Qingdao, in Shandong Province, China.
• The furthest airport from Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Las Flores Airport (ELB), which is nearly antipodal to Qingdao Liuting International Airport (meaning Qingdao Liuting International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Las Flores Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,963 kilometers) away in El Banco, Colombia.
• Because of Qingdao Liuting International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Qingdao Liuting 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 December 2013, the Chinese government approved the construction of Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport which will replace Liuting as Qingdao's main airport.
• Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Weifang Airport (WEF), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) WNW of TAO.
• Qingdao Liuting International Airport handled 12,601,152 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Qingdao Liuting International Airport", other names for TAO include "青岛流亭国际机场" and "Qīngdǎo Liútíng Guójì Jīchǎng".