Nonstop flight route between Lancing, West Sussex, United Kingdom and Fukuoka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shoreham Airport (ESH), Lancing, West Sussex, United Kingdom and Fukuoka Airport (FUK), Fukuoka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,880 miles (or 9,462 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 Shoreham Airport and Fukuoka 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 Shoreham Airport and Fukuoka 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 Shoreham Airport (ESH):

• The Shoreham Airport Visitor Centre features exhibits about the airport's history and area aviation history, a library and archive of related historic materials and guided tours of the airport.
• The airport is used by privately owned light aeroplanes, flying schools, and for light aircraft and helicopter maintenance and sales.
• Beagle Aircraft Ltd was formed at Shoreham on 7 October 1960 and design drawings were begun a few weeks later for a new prototype twin-engine light transport aircraft.
• The first aviator to fly there was Harold Piffard in 1910.
• The furthest airport from Shoreham Airport (ESH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,919 miles (19,182 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Shoreham Airport (ESH) has 4 runways.
• Because of Shoreham Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Shoreham 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 closest airport to Shoreham Airport (ESH) is Chichester/Goodwood Airport (QUG), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) W of ESH.
• In addition to being known as "Shoreham Airport", another name for ESH is "Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport".
• Due to its listed period buildings and facilities, Shoreham Airport has been used by film-makers seeking to portray a small town airport, or even for historical reconstructions of scenes from the 1930s onwards.
• Shoreham Airport handled 1,500 passengers last year.

Facts about Fukuoka Airport (FUK):

• At its height, Itazuke AB was the largest USAF base on Kyūshū, but was closed in 1972 due to budget reductions and the overall reduction of United States military forces in Japan.
• Fukuoka Airport, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located 1.6 NM east of Hakata Station in in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
• Because of Fukuoka Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Fukuoka 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.
• Fukuoka's first civilian air service was Japan Airlines' Fukuoka-Osaka-Tokyo service, which commenced in 1951.
• The closest airport to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSW of FUK.
• In the mid-1990s, Delta Air Lines operated a non-stop flight between Fukuoka and its transpacific hub in Portland, Oregon, but later dropped the route due to financial pressure.
• Fukuoka Airport (FUK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was built in 1943 by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force as Mushiroda Airfield.
• After the 1953 Armistice in Korea, the wartime combat units were slowly withdrawn back to the United States or reassigned to other airfields in Japan and South Korea.
• The 38th Bomb Group remained at Itazuke until October 1946 also during with time several reconstruction units worked on the former IJAAF base rebuilding and constructing new facilities.
• In addition to being known as "Fukuoka Airport", other names for FUK include "福岡空港" and "Fukuoka KūkōItazuke Air Base".
• The furthest airport from Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Fukuoka Airport (meaning Fukuoka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,719 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.