Nonstop flight route between Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport (HSN), Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,755 miles (or 9,262 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 Zhoushan Putuoshan 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 Zhoushan Putuoshan 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 Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport (HSN):

• The runway was originally designed to be long enough to land 747s, which require around 10,000' length for take-off by 130' width.
• The closest airport to Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport (HSN) is Ningbo Lishe International Airport (NGB), which is located 54 miles (88 kilometers) W of HSN.
• Considering the land had to be built up 9 meters, even with the trapezium shaped cross section, approximately 5,500,000 cubic meters of fill had to be quarried, transported and placed by local labor.
• In addition to being known as "Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport", other names for HSN include "舟山普陀山机场" and "Zhōushān Pǔtuóshān Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport (HSN) is Monte Caseros Airport (MCS), which is nearly antipodal to Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport (meaning Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Monte Caseros Airport), and is located 12,413 miles (19,977 kilometers) away in Monte Caseros, Corrientes, Argentina.
• Across the entire site which was about 3,200m x 400m, a matrix of 150mm perforated iron pipes at 10m centers in both directions was installed vertically, in a manner that allowed the Chinese to pour water and sand down the pipes to help with the compacting.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.