Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Saga, Kyūshū, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Saga Airport (HSG), Saga, Kyūshū, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,793 miles (or 9,322 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 and Saga 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 and Saga 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• The furthest airport from RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,834 miles (19,044 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• English Electric Canberra bomber squadrons, 10, XV, 44, and 57 were based at RAF Honington from February 1955 to 1957.
• Besides the air depot, Honington also housed an operational fighter unit when the 364th Fighter Group took up residence at Honington in February 1944, arriving from Santa Maria AAF, California.
• Although the last mission by the 364th took place on 25 April 1945, the group did not depart until November, returning to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for inactivation.
• Honington was the last USAAF station to be returned to the RAF.
• Converted from P-38 Lightnings to P-51 Mustangs in the summer of 1944 and from then until the end of the war flew many long-range escort missions heavy bombers that attacked oil refineries, industries, and other strategic objectives at Berlin, Regensburg, Merseburg, Stuttgart, Brussels, and elsewhere.
• IX Squadron flew the first RAF bombing raid of the Second World War on 4 September 1939 flying a mission against the Kriegsmarine in the Baltic resulting in the loss of two Wellingtons.
• Then, in May of that year, a Wellington returning from a night trip attempted to land at Honington with its wheels retracted.
• The closest airport to RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WNW of BEQ.

Facts about Saga Airport (HSG):

• The furthest airport from Saga Airport (HSG) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Saga Airport (meaning Saga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,275 miles (19,755 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Saga Airport (HSG) is Nagasaki Airport (NGS), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SW of HSG.
• In addition to being known as "Saga Airport", other names for HSG include "佐賀空港" and "Saga-kūkō".
• Because of Saga Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Saga 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.
• Saga was a candidate destination to receive an additional pair of Haneda Airport slots in November 2013, but its bid was rejected by the government due to its existing four-daily service and its proximity to Fukuoka Airport.
• Due to the slump in mainline service to the airport, Saga Prefecture began several programs aimed at promoting usage of the airport, including ground transportation subsidies for local companies that used the airport for business travel.
• Saga Airport (HSG) currently has only 1 runway.