Nonstop flight route between Hiroshima, Honshū, Japan and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hiroshima Airport (HIJ), Hiroshima, Honshū, Japan and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,872 miles (or 9,450 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 Hiroshima Airport and RAF Benson, 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 Hiroshima Airport and RAF Benson. 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 Hiroshima Airport (HIJ):

• Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport has no direct expressway connection but is located near the San'yō Expressway.
• New Hiroshima Airport opened for public use in 1993 as a replacement for Hiroshima Airport, which was renamed Hiroshima-Nishi Airport.
• Unusually among major Japanese airports, Hiroshima Airport has no railway station.
• The furthest airport from Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Hiroshima Airport (meaning Hiroshima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,101 miles (19,475 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) is Matsuyama Airport (MYJ), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SSW of HIJ.
• In addition to being known as "Hiroshima Airport", other names for HIJ include "広島空港" and "Hiroshima Kūkō".
• Hiroshima has one terminal with separated departures and arrivals facilities for domestic and international flights and seven lettered gates.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• The future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields.