Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Tarawa, Kiribati:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Bonriki International Airport (TRW), Tarawa, Kiribati would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,698 miles (or 13,999 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 Bonriki 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 Bonriki 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):

• English Electric Canberra bomber squadrons, 10, XV, 44, and 57 were based at RAF Honington from February 1955 to 1957.
• 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.
• With the departure of the USAAF in February 1946, Honington airfield was returned to the RAF.
• RAF Honington is also now home to 611 Volunteer Gliding Squadron due to the closure of RAF Watton in April 2012, requiring their conversion to the Grob 109B Vigilant motor glider.
• 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.
• In 1941, a Junkers Ju 88 was shot down by ground fire from Honington.
• Then, in May of that year, a Wellington returning from a night trip attempted to land at Honington with its wheels retracted.
• The 364th also flew air-sea rescue missions, engaged in patrol activities, and continued to support ground forces as the battle line moved through France and into Germany.
• 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 Bonriki International Airport (TRW):

• Almost immediately after the completion of the runway, it became the nexus of United States Army Air Forces operations from Tarawa, as the runway at nearby Hawkins Field on Betio was too short for safe bomber operations.
• In April 1944, the land-based units moved forward to Kwajalein Airfield in the Marshall Islands, and shortly thereafter, Mullinix was reduced to an emergency airfield.
• The closest airport to Bonriki International Airport (TRW) is Abaiang Atoll Airport (ABF), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NNW of TRW.
• Bonriki International Airport is an international airport in Kiribati, serving as the main gateway to the country.
• Because of Bonriki International Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Bonriki 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.
• The furthest airport from Bonriki International Airport (TRW) is Cape Palmas Airport (CPA), which is nearly antipodal to Bonriki International Airport (meaning Bonriki International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cape Palmas Airport), and is located 12,035 miles (19,368 kilometers) away in Cape Palmas, Liberia.
• Bonriki International Airport (TRW) currently has only 1 runway.