Nonstop flight route between Huai'an, Jiangsu, China and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA), Huai'an, Jiangsu, China and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,430 miles (or 8,738 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 Huai'an Lianshui 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 Huai'an Lianshui 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 Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA):

• In 2011, its first full year of operation, Huai'an Airport handled 230,000 passengers to become the 99th busiest airport in China.
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Junín Airport (JNI), which is nearly antipodal to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (meaning Huai'an Lianshui Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Junín Airport), and is located 12,384 miles (19,929 kilometers) away in Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Huai'an Lianshui Airport", other names for HIA include "淮安涟水机场" and "Huái'ān Liánshuǐ Jīchǎng".
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport handled 230,000 passengers last year.
• Because of Huai'an Lianshui Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Huai'an Lianshui 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 closest airport to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Lianyungang Baitabu Airport (LYG), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) NNW of HIA.
• The airport has one runway that is 2,400 meters long, and a 14,600 square meter terminal building.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• 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.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.