Nonstop flight route between Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BKY to LKZ:
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- About this route
- BKY Airport Information
- LKZ Airport Information
- Facts about BKY
- Facts about LKZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKY
- List of Nearest Airports to BKY
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKY
- List of Furthest Airports from BKY
- Map of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- List of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from LKZ
- List of Furthest Airports from LKZ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Kuvumu Airport (BKY), Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,123 miles (or 6,635 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 Kuvumu Airport and RAF Lakenheath, 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 Kuvumu Airport and RAF Lakenheath. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BKY / FZMA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
GPS Coordinates: | 2°18'32"S by 28°48'30"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5643 feet (1,720 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BKY |
More Information: | BKY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | LKZ / EGUL |
Airport Name: | RAF Lakenheath |
Location: | Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°24'29"N by 0°33'24"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from LKZ |
More Information: | LKZ Maps & Info |
Facts about Kuvumu Airport (BKY):
- Because of Kuvumu Airport's high elevation of 5,643 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BKY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BKY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Kuvumu Airport", other names for BKY include "Bukavu Kuvumu Airport" and "Kuvumu Airport (Bukavu)".
- The closest airport to Kuvumu Airport (BKY) is Goma Airport (GOM), which is located 53 miles (86 kilometers) NE of BKY.
- The furthest airport from Kuvumu Airport (BKY) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Kuvumu Airport (meaning Kuvumu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,011 miles (19,330 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
- Kuvumu Airport (BKY) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):
- In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
- The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
- The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
- Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.
- By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
- The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
- The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
- The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.