Nonstop flight route between Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,536 miles (or 2,473 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 relatively short distance between Madeira Airport and London Heathrow Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Madeira Airport (FNC):

• Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Madeira Airport was officially opened on 18 July 1964, with two 1,600 m runways.
• The closest airport to Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.
• The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranked it as the 9th most dangerous airport in the world, and the second most dangerous in Europe after Gibraltar International Airport.
• Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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 Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• In 2000, the runway was again extended this time to 2,781 m almost doubling the size of the original runway.
• Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
• The airport has a single terminal which opened in 1973.
• In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".

Facts about London Heathrow Airport (LHR):

• The furthest airport from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,875 miles (19,112 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has 2 runways.
• Because of London Heathrow Airport's relatively low elevation of 83 feet, planes can take off or land at London Heathrow 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 terminal will be used by all 23 Star Alliance members currently operating at Heathrow, as well as Aer Lingus, Little Red and Germanwings.
• The airport holds a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence, which allows flights for public transportation of passengers or for flying instruction.
• The closest airport to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is RAF Northolt (NHT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of LHR.
• A trial of "noise relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with the existing paths which were spread out.
• Heathrow Airport started in 1929 as a small airfield on land south-east of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name.
• The original 1950s red-brick control tower was demolished in early 2013 to enable access roads for the new Terminal 2 to be laid.