Nonstop flight route between High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Beijing, People's Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,066 miles (or 8,153 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 RAF High Wycombe and Beijing Capital International 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 RAF High Wycombe and Beijing Capital International 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 RAF High Wycombe (HYC):

• Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Air Ministry sought a safe location for RAF Bomber Command away from London.
• The site is a non-flying station and was home to RAF Strike Command before it became part of the newly formed RAF Air Command on 1 April 2007.
• The closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
• The furthest airport from RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,867 miles (19,098 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The actor David Jason officially opened the station's new welfare centre, named after Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott, in July 2011.
• During the Second World War High Wycombe was used by the United States Army Air Forces.
• The location of the station was originally suggested by Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott when the Air Ministry was seeking a new, secure, site for Bomber Command away from London.

Facts about Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):

• The closest airport to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SSW of PEK.
• With the opening of Terminal 3, the terminal was closed for light refurbishment, and its airlines were moved to Terminal 2 on 20 May 2008.
• In addition to food and beverage businesses, there is a 16,200 m2 domestic retail area, a 12,600 m2 duty-free-store area and a nearly 7,200 m2 convenience-service area, which includes banks, business centres, Internet services and more.
• In addition to being known as "Beijing Capital International Airport", other names for PEK include "北京首都国际机场" and "Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng".
• On 20 July 2013, a man in a wheelchair detonated small homemade explosives which exploded on Terminal 3 in the Beijing International Airport.
• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has 3 runways.
• Beijing Capital International Airport handled 83,712,355 passengers last year.
• To accommodate the growing traffic volume, Beijing Capital added the enormous Terminal 3 in 2008 in time for the Olympic Games, the second largest airport terminal in the world after Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, and the sixth largest building in the world by area.
• Because of Beijing Capital International Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at Beijing Capital 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 Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Beijing Capital International Airport (meaning Beijing Capital International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,920 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.