Nonstop flight route between Gambela, Ethiopia and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gambela Airport (GMB), Gambela, Ethiopia and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,608 miles (or 5,806 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 Gambela 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 Gambela 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 Gambela Airport (GMB):

• The furthest airport from Gambela Airport (GMB) is Manihi Airport (XMH), which is located 11,999 miles (19,310 kilometers) away in Manihi, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Gambela Airport (GMB) is Dembidolo Airport (DEM), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NE of GMB.
• Gambela Airport (GMB) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• 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.
• 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.