Nonstop flight route between Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and Alconbury, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Darwin International Airport (DRW), Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,582 miles (or 13,812 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 Darwin International Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102, 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 Darwin International Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102. 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 Darwin International Airport (DRW):

• In 2008 the Australian Infrastructure Fund, which holds 28.2% of Northern Territory Airports, announced that the airport would undergo a $60 million expansion to cater for growing passenger numbers.
• In 2011 the airport served 26,036 flights and 1,743,734 passengers.
• In 1919, when the England to Australia air race was announced, Parap Airfield was established in the suburb of Parap to act as the Australian Terminal.
• The furthest airport from Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,867 miles (19,099 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
• The closest airport to Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Bathurst Island Airport (BRT), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NNW of DRW.
• Darwin International Airport (DRW) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Darwin International Airport", another name for DRW is "RAAF Base Darwin".
• During the 2009–10 financial year there was a total of 1,569,007 passengers which consisted of 207,825 international passengers and 1,361,182 domestic passengers, up 2.0%.
• Darwin International Airport handled 1,743,734 passengers last year.
• Until they were withdrawn from service, Concorde made sporadic visits to Darwin as well, having one of the few runways long enough in Australia to handle them.
• Australian low-cost carrier, Jetstar Airways, had expressed a keen interest in developing Darwin Airport as a hub for its trips to Asia.
• Because of Darwin International Airport's relatively low elevation of 103 feet, planes can take off or land at Darwin International 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.

Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• A total of 67 bombers had been lost in RAF Bomber Command operations flown from Alconbury, eight were Blenheims and 59 Wellingtons.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
• During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,