Nonstop flight route between Ilorin, Nigeria and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ilorin International Airport (ILR), Ilorin, Nigeria and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,046 miles (or 4,902 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 Ilorin International 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 Ilorin International 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 Ilorin International Airport (ILR):

• The closest airport to Ilorin International Airport (ILR) is Ibadan Airport (IBA), which is located 82 miles (133 kilometers) SSW of ILR.
• The furthest airport from Ilorin International Airport (ILR) is Wallis Island (WLS), which is nearly antipodal to Ilorin International Airport (meaning Ilorin International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wallis Island), and is located 12,100 miles (19,473 kilometers) away in Wallis and Futuna Islands.
• Ilorin International Airport (ILR) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
• 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.
• 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.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.