Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Xianyang, Shaanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), Xianyang, Shaanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,078 miles (or 8,172 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 Xi'an Xianyang 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 Xi'an Xianyang 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 first American Eighth Air Force unit to take residence at RAF Alconbury was the 93d Bombardment Group, known as the "Travelling Circus" from Fort Myers AAF, Florida on 7 September 1942.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,
• In the spring of 1938, the Air Ministry acquired about 150 acres of open meadowland at Alconbury Hill, Huntingdonshire, expressly for use as a satellite airfield.

Facts about Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY):

• In 2012, the airport handled 23,420,654 passengers, making it the busiest airport in northwest China and the 8th busiest nationwide.
• Xi'an Xianyang International Airport handled 23,420,654 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is La Unión Airport (LUI), which is nearly antipodal to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (meaning Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Unión Airport), and is located 12,412 miles (19,976 kilometers) away in La Unión, Honduras[disambiguation needed].
• Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is Xi'an Xiguan Airport (SIA), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) ESE of XIY.
• In addition to being known as "Xi'an Xianyang International Airport", other names for XIY include "西安咸阳国际机场" and "Xī'ān Xiányáng Guójì Jīchǎng".