Nonstop flight route between Erigavo, Somalia and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Erigavo Airport (ERA), Erigavo, Somalia and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,882 miles (or 6,248 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 Erigavo 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 Erigavo 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 Erigavo Airport (ERA):

• The closest airport to Erigavo Airport (ERA) is Bender Qassim International Airport (BSA), which is located 127 miles (205 kilometers) ENE of ERA.
• The furthest airport from Erigavo Airport (ERA) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,997 miles (19,308 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Because of Erigavo Airport's high elevation of 5,720 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ERA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ERA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.