Nonstop flight route between Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,183 miles (or 6,732 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 Chattanooga Metropolitan 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 Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport and RAF Lakenheath. 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 Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA):

• Post-war growth in aviation in the 1950s led to a transfer of the airport's operations to the City of Chattanooga and significant airport expansion with construction of a new runway, which serves as the primary runway today.
• Currently, a flight from Chattanooga to Atlanta can take 18 minutes flying on a Canadair Regional Jet or Delta Air Lines MD-80.
• The current passenger terminal, designed by Gensler, opened in 1992.
• On November 11, 1972, Southern Airways Flight 49, a hijacked McDonnell Douglas DC-9 with 31 passengers and 3 crew members aboard, landed at Lovell Field from Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport to pick up $10 million that three hijackers had demanded.
• The furthest airport from Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,280 miles (18,153 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport's relatively low elevation of 683 feet, planes can take off or land at Chattanooga Metropolitan 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.
• On November 27, 1973, Delta Air Lines Flight 516, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed short of the runway on approach to the airport.
• The closest airport to Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) is Marion County Airport (APT), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) W of CHA.
• In addition to being known as "Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport", another name for CHA is "Lovell Field".
• Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) has 2 runways.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• 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.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• 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.