Nonstop flight route between Chitral, Pakistan and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chitral Airport (CJL), Chitral, Pakistan and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,554 miles (or 5,720 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 Chitral 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 Chitral 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 Chitral Airport (CJL):

• The closest airport to Chitral Airport (CJL) is Razer Airport (KUR), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) W of CJL.
• Chitral Airport (CJL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Chitral Airport's high elevation of 4,921 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CJL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CJL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Chitral Airport (CJL) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,830 miles (19,039 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Chitral Airport", another name for CJL is "چترال ہوائی اڈا".

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.
• 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 reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.