Nonstop flight route between Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,518 miles (or 2,443 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 relatively short distance between RAF Brize Norton and Lajes Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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.
• With the closure of RAF Lyneham taking place in late 2011, the repatriation of British personnel was relocated to Brize Norton on 8 September 2011.
• AirTanker Services is operating the RAF's Airbus A330 MRTT to provide aerial re-fuelling services at Brize Norton.
• The station is home to Air Transport, Air-to-Air refuelling and Military Parachuting, with aircraft operating from the station including the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Airbus A330 MRTT Voyager which replaced the now decommissioned Lockheed TriStar in March 2014.
• RAF Brize Norton was opened in 1937 as a training station and one of the first squadrons to use the airfield was No.
• Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• Lajes Field also played a crucial role in Cold War politics.
• Lajes Field was one of the two stopover and refueling bases for the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944.
• Lajes provides support to 15,000 aircraft, including fighters from the US and 20 other allied nations each.
• Another important Cold War operation at Lajes was the U.S.
• The Portuguese Air Force continues to operate one SAR squadron Esq.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air Base 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 Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force EICAP was transferred to Lajes, operating Douglas C-47, Douglas C-54 and later CASA C-212 Aviocar.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".