Nonstop flight route between Abilene, Texas, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,893 miles (or 7,874 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 Dyess Air Force Base and Gatwick 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 Dyess Air Force Base and Gatwick 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 Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing of the Air Combat Command, which was activated on 1 October 1993.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The 317th Airlift Group, an Air Mobility Command tenant unit, performs Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlift missions with 28 aircraft assigned.
• Dyess Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 7 miles southwest of Abilene, Texas.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• On 19 November 1959, the United States Army conducted groundbreaking ceremonies at Dyess AFB for the battalion headquarters of the 5th Missile Battalion, 517th Artillery of the U.S.
• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.
• Dyess' first active combat unit was the 341st Bombardment Wing, which activated on 1 September 1955.

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• BEA Helicopters made Gatwick their administrative and engineering base on 1 January 1964.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• In 1935, a new airline, Allied British Airways, was formed with the merger of Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways.
• On 9 April 1965, a BUA One-Eleven operated the type's first commercial service from Gatwick to Genoa.
• In May 1950, Gatwick's first charter flight left the airport's original grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
• In November 1972, Laker Airways became the first operator of wide-body aircraft at Gatwick after the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft.