Nonstop flight route between Girardot, Colombia and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santiago Vila Airport (GIR), Girardot, Colombia and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,369 miles (or 8,641 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 Santiago Vila 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 Santiago Vila 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 Santiago Vila Airport (GIR):

• The closest airport to Santiago Vila Airport (GIR) is Perales Airport (IBE), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) WNW of GIR.
• In addition to being known as "Santiago Vila Airport", another name for GIR is "Aeropuerto Santiago Vila".
• Santiago Vila Airport (GIR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Santiago Vila Airport (GIR) is Gunung Batin Airport (AKQ), which is nearly antipodal to Santiago Vila Airport (meaning Santiago Vila Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gunung Batin Airport), and is located 12,413 miles (19,977 kilometers) away in Astraksetra, Indonesia.
• Because of Santiago Vila Airport's relatively low elevation of 900 feet, planes can take off or land at Santiago Vila 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 Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• Following French president Charles de Gaulle's insistence in 1959 that all non-French nuclear-capable forces should be withdrawn from his country, the USAF began a redeployment of its North American F-100-equipped units from France.
• 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.
• Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.