Nonstop flight route between Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BUQ to LKZ:
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- About this route
- BUQ Airport Information
- LKZ Airport Information
- Facts about BUQ
- Facts about LKZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to BUQ
- List of Nearest Airports to BUQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from BUQ
- List of Furthest Airports from BUQ
- 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,281 miles (or 8,499 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International 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: | BUQ / FVBU |
| Airport Name: | Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport |
| Location: | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| GPS Coordinates: | 20°1'2"S by 28°37'4"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 4359 feet (1,329 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BUQ |
| More Information: | BUQ 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ):
- Because of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport's high elevation of 4,359 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BUQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BUQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) ENE of BUQ.
- The furthest airport from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (meaning Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,198 miles (19,630 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) has 2 runways.
Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):
- Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
- Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.
- 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.
- 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 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
- On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
