Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Lanzhou, Gansu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC), Lanzhou, Gansu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,846 miles (or 7,800 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 Lanzhou Zhongchuan 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 Lanzhou Zhongchuan 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):

• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC):

• In addition to being known as "Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport", other names for ZGC include "兰州中川机场" and "Lánzhōu Zhōngchuān Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (meaning Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Lanzhou Airport is a focus city for Hainan Airlines.
• The closest airport to Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (ZGC) is Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ZGC.
• Taxi service is relatively expensive due to the long distance to the airport, about 150RMB.
• Airport Express Shuttle Bus service is available on a single route from the airport to the Lanzhou Eastern Hotel, Tianshui Middle Road, opposite Lanzhou University western gate.
• Because of Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport's high elevation of 6,388 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZGC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZGC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.