Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Sanya, Hainan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), Sanya, Hainan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,968 miles (or 9,604 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 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• 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 reformed at RAF Honington in August 1982, becoming the world's first Panavia Tornado GR1 squadron.
• Then, in May of that year, a Wellington returning from a night trip attempted to land at Honington with its wheels retracted.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Luftwaffe made several attacks on the airfield one of which killed about twenty airmen who were crossing the old parade ground on their way to tea.
• 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.
• In June 1942, the airfield was transferred to the USAAF and was upgraded to a Class A Bomber base.
• With the departure of the USAAF in February 1946, Honington airfield was returned to the RAF.

Facts about Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX):

• 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.
• 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".
• Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Sanya Phoenix International Airport is an airport serving the city of Sanya in Hainan, the southernmost province of China.
• 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 closest airport to Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX) is Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK), which is located 132 miles (212 kilometers) NNE of SYX.
• With the construction of the rest of the Hainan Western Ring High-Speed Railway, from Sanya Phoenix Airport to Haikou, rail service from Sanya Station will become available to stations on the island's west coast as well.