Nonstop flight route between Bedford, Massachusetts, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Laurence G. Hanscom Field (BED), Bedford, Massachusetts, United States and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,263 miles (or 5,251 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 Laurence G. Hanscom Field and London Heathrow 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 Laurence G. Hanscom Field and London Heathrow 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 Laurence G. Hanscom Field (BED):

• In addition to being known as "Laurence G. Hanscom Field", another name for BED is "Hanscom Air Force Base".
• On August 29, 2009, the body of the late Senator Edward M.
• Laurence G. Hanscom Field (BED) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Laurence G. Hanscom Field (BED) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,753 miles (18,914 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Hanscom's traffic is primarily business jets and general aviation aircraft.
• The closest airport to Laurence G. Hanscom Field (BED) is Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) ESE of BED.
• As an airport close to Boston, many teams competing in the Boston area use Hanscom Field.
• Hanscom is a critical part of the air transportation infrastructure for Massachusetts and the rest of New England.
• Because of Laurence G. Hanscom Field's relatively low elevation of 132 feet, planes can take off or land at Laurence G. Hanscom Field 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.

Facts about London Heathrow Airport (LHR):

• Terminal 3 opened as The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 to handle flight departures for long-haul routes.
• Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control then guide the aircraft to their final approach, merging aircraft from the four holds into a single stream of traffic, sometimes as close as 2.5 nautical miles apart.
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has 2 runways.
• Heathrow Airport has Anglican, Catholic, free church, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh chaplains.
• Until 2008, air traffic between Heathrow and the United States was strictly governed by the countries' bilateral Bermuda II treaty.
• Because of London Heathrow Airport's relatively low elevation of 83 feet, planes can take off or land at London Heathrow 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.
• As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, an airliner's landing approach is usually directly over the conurbation of London when the wind is from the west.
• When runway alternation was introduced, aircraft generated significantly more noise on departure than when landing, so a preference for westerly operations during daylight was introduced, which continues to this day.
• The closest airport to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is RAF Northolt (NHT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of LHR.
• A trial of "noise relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with the existing paths which were spread out.
• The furthest airport from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,875 miles (19,112 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.