Nonstop flight route between Hat Yai, Songkhla Province, Thailand and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hat Yai International Airport (HDY), Hat Yai, Songkhla Province, Thailand and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,249 miles (or 10,057 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 Hat Yai International 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 Hat Yai International 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 Hat Yai International Airport (HDY):

• In addition to being known as "Hat Yai International Airport", another name for HDY is "ท่าอากาศยานหาดใหญ่".
• Because of Hat Yai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 90 feet, planes can take off or land at Hat Yai International 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 Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) is Cap. FAP José A. Quiñones González International Airport (CIX), which is nearly antipodal to Hat Yai International Airport (meaning Hat Yai International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP José A. Quiñones González International Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,986 kilometers) away in Chiclayo, Peru.
• During the 2005 Songkhla bombings, a bomb planted at the departure lounge by Pattani separatists exploded on April 3, 2005, killing one passenger and injuring 10.
• Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) currently has only 1 runway.
• Hat Yai International Airport handled 2,465,370 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) is Sultan Abdul Halim Airport (AOR), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) S of HDY.
• There are seven taxiways and an apron area of 56,461 m².

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.
• 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.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• 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 addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.