Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Manas International Airport (FRU), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,426 miles (or 5,514 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 Benson and Manas 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 Benson and Manas 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 Benson (BEX):

• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Facts about Manas International Airport (FRU):

• In addition to being known as "Manas International Airport", other names for FRU include "Манас эл аралык аэропорту", "FRU (БИШ)" and "UCFM".
• Around the same time the Kyrgyz government performed a major expansion and renovation of the passenger terminal, funded in part by the sizable landing fees paid by coalition forces.
• The furthest airport from Manas International Airport (FRU) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,317 miles (18,213 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Manas International Airport (FRU) is Almaty International Airport (ALA), which is located 131 miles (211 kilometers) E of FRU.
• In 2004, a new parking ramp was added in front of the passenger terminal to make room for larger refueling and transport aircraft such as the KC-135 and C-17.
• The airport was constructed as a replacement for the old Bishkek airport that was located to the south of the city, and named after the Kyrgyz epic hero, Manas, at the suggestion of country's most prominent writer and intellectual, Chinghiz Aitmatov.
• Manas International Airport (FRU) currently has only 1 runway.
• With the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States and its coalition partners immediately sought permission from the Kyrgyz government to use the airport as a military base for operations in Afghanistan.