Nonstop flight route between Handan, Hebei, China and Alconbury, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Handan Airport (HDG), Handan, Hebei, China and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,150 miles (or 8,288 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 Handan Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102, 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 Handan Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102. 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 Handan Airport (HDG):

• In addition to being known as "Handan Airport", other names for HDG include "邯郸机场" and "Hándān Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Handan Airport (HDG) is Santa Rosa Airport (RSA), which is nearly antipodal to Handan Airport (meaning Handan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Rosa Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Santa Rosa, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Handan Airport (HDG) is Xingtai Dalian Airport (XNT), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of HDG.

Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• RAF Alconbury is about 0.308 sq mi in area.
• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
• Royal Air Force Alconbury or RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station in the United Kingdom, located in Huntingdon, England.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• In May 1942, RAF Alconbury was allocated to the United States Eighth Air Force when a number of stations in East Anglia were turned over to the Americans after their entry into the war.
• During this period, RAF Alconbury consisted of a few wooden huts but plans were made to provide both refuelling and rearmament facilities.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
• The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
• The group comprises six squadrons—security forces and civil engineer, air base, medical and services—and supports tenant units.