Nonstop flight route between Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Long Beach, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Long Beach Airport (JLB), Long Beach, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,393 miles (or 8,679 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 Brize Norton and Long Beach 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 Brize Norton and Long Beach 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 Brize Norton (BZZ):

• Like many UK military bases RAF Brize Norton has been subject to limited protests by peace demonstrators.
• On 19 September 2005, Brize Norton was closed as part of a major upgrade project.
• On 23 May 2001 the RAF's first C-17 arrived at Brize Norton, one of six to be delivered to 99 Squadron.
• To accommodate this expansion, a major infrastructure redevelopment, "Programme Future Brize" was established in 2009.
• Major infrastructure redevelopment began in 2010 ahead of the closure of RAF Lyneham in 2012, at which point Brize Norton became the sole air point of embarkation for British troops.
• By the 1950s Cold War tension was escalating and the United States envisaged stationing nuclear bombers in the United Kingdom as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
• Brize Norton is already a major airbase for the RAF's transport fleet.
• By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.

Facts about Long Beach Airport (JLB):

• Because of Long Beach Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Long Beach 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.
• The furthest airport from Long Beach Airport (JLB) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,489 miles (18,489 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• With increased activity by commercial airlines and the private airplane industry, particularly with Douglas Aircraft showing an interest in the Long Beach Municipal Airport, the facility needed more space.
• The first transcontinental flight, a biplane flown by Calbraith Perry Rodgers, landed in 1911 on Long Beach's sandy beach.
• Long Beach Airport handled 2,978,433 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Long Beach Airport (JLB) is Long Beach Airport (LGB), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of JLB.
• Between 1990 and 1992, Continental, Delta, TWA, and USAir ended service to the airport, as did American Airlines in early 2006.
• Long Beach Airport (JLB) has 5 runways.
• Air cargo carriers, including FedEx and UPS, also use LGB.
• In addition to being known as "Long Beach Airport", other names for JLB include "LGB", "KLGB" and "LGB".
• Long Beach Airport is the second closest airport to Disneyland, after John Wayne Airport.