Nonstop flight route between Harare, Zimbabwe and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Harare International Airport (HRE), Harare, Zimbabwe and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,160 miles (or 8,305 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 Harare International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, 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 Harare International Airport and London Heathrow Airport. 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 Harare International Airport (HRE):

• Harare International Airport (HRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Originally, it was anticipated that the airport would be completed by 1954.
• Harare International Airport is an airport in Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Later the same year, an Airfield Construction Unit was formed to undertake an extensive search for a suitable site for a national airport.
• The furthest airport from Harare International Airport (HRE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Harare International Airport (meaning Harare International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,017 miles (19,339 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• In 1951 the government announced that the airport would be developed as a joint user aerodrome for both civil aviation and the Southern Rhodesian Air Force.
• The closest airport to Harare International Airport (HRE) is Mutare Airport (UTA), which is located 125 miles (201 kilometers) SE of HRE.
• The runway is used by both the civilian airport and the Air Force of Zimbabwe whose base is on the southern side of the runway.
• Commissioned in 1956 and officially opened on 5 February 1957, Salisbury Airport cost £924'000 to build.
• Because of Harare International Airport's high elevation of 4,887 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HRE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HRE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Harare International Airport handled 612,208 passengers last year.
• A site therefore had to be found for the construction of an airport that would be safer and more suitable for commercial activities.

Facts about London Heathrow Airport (LHR):

• Because of London Heathrow Airport's relatively low elevation of 83 feet, planes can take off or land at London Heathrow 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 London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is RAF Northolt (NHT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of LHR.
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has 2 runways.
• A trial of "noise relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with the existing paths which were spread out.
• London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow is a major international airport serving London, England, known as London Airport from 1946 until 1965.
• The furthest airport from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,875 miles (19,112 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control then guide the aircraft to their final approach, merging aircraft from the four holds into a single stream of traffic, sometimes as close as 2.5 nautical miles apart.
• The airport holds a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence, which allows flights for public transportation of passengers or for flying instruction.
• Terminal 1 will be closed by the end of 2016 once all airlines have moved to other Heathrow terminals.