Nonstop flight route between Ballina, New South Wales, Australia and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK), Ballina, New South Wales, Australia and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,373 miles (or 16,694 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 Ballina Byron Gateway Airport and RAF Northolt, 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 Ballina Byron Gateway Airport and RAF Northolt. 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 Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK):

• It is 5 km from the Ballina CBD, in Southern Cross Drive.
• Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The upgrade will in the future involve a taxiway being built for the runway and many more facilities for the airport.
• The closest airport to Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK) is Lismore Airport (LSY), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) W of BNK.
• The furthest airport from Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,911 miles (19,168 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• Because of Ballina Byron Gateway Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Ballina Byron Gateway 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.
• Ballina Byron Gateway Airport handled 291,322 passengers last year.

Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):

• On 15 September 1940 during the Battle of Britain, No. 1 Squadron RCAF, No. 229 Squadron, No.
• Construction of the new aerodrome, to be named "RFC Military School, Ruislip", began in January 1915.
• Attention was high again in 2001 when Ronnie Biggs, the seriously ill, fugitive Great Train Robber, was flown from Brazil to the airfield to be arrested by waiting police officers.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In December 1946, after taking off during a heavy snowstorm, a Douglas DC-3 operated by British European Airways, flying from Northolt to Glasgow, crashed onto the roof of a house in South Ruislip.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
• The remains of a Hawker Hurricane flown by Flying Officer Ludwik Witold Paszkiewicz, the first pilot in No. 303 Squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft, were donated to the station in June 2008.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.