Nonstop flight route between Nissan Island, Papua New Guinea and Alconbury, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nissan Island Airport (IIS), Nissan Island, Papua New Guinea and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,822 miles (or 14,198 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 Nissan Island Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102, 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 Nissan Island Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102. 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 Nissan Island Airport (IIS):

• Nissan Island Airport is an airfield serving Nissan Island, in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
• Lagoon Airfield was abandoned after the war, while Ocean Airfield remained in use as a civilian airfield.
• Because of Nissan Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Nissan Island 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 Nissan Island Airport (IIS) is Buka Island Airport (BUA), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) SSE of IIS.
• The furthest airport from Nissan Island Airport (IIS) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,714 miles (18,852 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• The New Zealand 3rd Division landed on Nissan Island on 15 February 1944 as part of the Solomon Islands campaign.
• Nissan Island Airport (IIS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Nissan Island Airport", other names for IIS include "AYIA" and "Nissan Island".

Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• A total of 67 bombers had been lost in RAF Bomber Command operations flown from Alconbury, eight were Blenheims and 59 Wellingtons.
• In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
• The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
• The host unit at RAF Alconbury is the 423rd Air Base Group which supplies host unit services for Alconbury as well as RAF Molesworth.