Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Xiamen, Fujian, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN), Xiamen, Fujian, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,927 miles (or 9,539 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 Xiamen Gaoqi 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 Xiamen Gaoqi 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Construction of Honington airfield began in 1935, and the facility was opened on 3 May 1937.
• 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.
• Then, in May of that year, a Wellington returning from a night trip attempted to land at Honington with its wheels retracted.
• In June 1942, the airfield was transferred to the USAAF and was upgraded to a Class A Bomber base.
• English Electric Canberra bomber squadrons, 10, XV, 44, and 57 were based at RAF Honington from February 1955 to 1957.
• 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.

Facts about Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN):

• Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN) is Kinmen Airport (Kinmen Shang Yi Airport) (KNH), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) ESE of XMN.
• The furthest airport from Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN) is Tartagal "General Enrique Mosconi" Airport (TTG), which is nearly antipodal to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (meaning Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tartagal "General Enrique Mosconi" Airport), and is located 12,257 miles (19,725 kilometers) away in Tartagal, Salta, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport", other names for XMN include "厦门高崎国际机场" and "Xiàmén Gāoqí Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport handled 17,354,076 passengers last year.
• Because of Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Xiamen Gaoqi 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.