Nonstop flight route between Birmingham, England, United Kingdom and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Birmingham Airport (BHX), Birmingham, England, United Kingdom and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,242 miles (or 6,827 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 Birmingham Airport and Patrick Air Force Base, 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 Birmingham Airport and Patrick Air Force Base. 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 Birmingham Airport (BHX):

• Birmingham handled a record 9.6 million passengers in 2008, and 9.1 million passengers used the airport in 2013, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport.
• In January 2011, the airport merged its two terminals into a Single Terminal Building.
• The furthest airport from Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The airport's location south-east of the city, plus the only operational runway being north-west – south-east, means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham.
• The runway extension will be officially opened on 22 July 2014 and will be marked by a series of charter flights operated by China Southern Airlines to Beijing.
• Birmingham Airport handled 9,120,201 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Coventry Airport (CVT), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) ESE of BHX.
• Birmingham Airport (BHX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Birmingham Airport's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Birmingham 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.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• In 1971, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute was established at Patrick AFB.
• Three months after World War II, on December 5, 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the disappearance of Flight 19, a formation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which had departed NAS Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission.
• On May 3, 1951, the Long Range Proving Ground Division was assigned to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
•  United States Air Force
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Present Day:Brig Gen Nina Armagno
• The 920th Rescue Wing, part of Air Force Reserve Command, is another tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB and is the installation's only military flying unit.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".