Nonstop flight route between Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands and Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands and RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,625 miles (or 12,272 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 Johnston Atoll Airport and RAF Mildenhall, 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 Johnston Atoll Airport and RAF Mildenhall. 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 Johnston Atoll Airport (JON):

• The furthest airport from Johnston Atoll Airport (JON) is Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD), which is nearly antipodal to Johnston Atoll Airport (meaning Johnston Atoll Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lubango Mukanka Airport), and is located 12,195 miles (19,627 kilometers) away in Lubango, Angola.
• The closest airport to Johnston Atoll Airport (JON) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is located 733 miles (1,179 kilometers) ENE of JON.
• On 15 December 1941 the atoll was shelled by a Japanese submarine outside the reef, several buildings were hit, but no personnel were injured.
• In September 1941 construction of an airfield on Johnston Island commenced.
• Johnston Atoll Airport (JON) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Johnston Atoll Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Johnston Atoll 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.
• In 1935 personnel from the US Navy's Patrol Wing Two carried out some minor construction to develop the atoll for seaplane operation.

Facts about RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Also administratively assigned to the 488th Intelligence Squadron is Operating Location Souda Bay, Crete.
• RAF Mildenhall and its sister base RAF Lakenheath have the largest United States Air Force presence in the United Kingdom.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• The 501st Combat Support Wing was activated at RAF Mildenhall on 21 May 2005.
• The host unit at Mildenhall is the 100th Air Refueling Wing, which deploys aircraft for and manages the European Tanker Task Force, a rotational force which provides air refuelling to US and NATO aircraft in the European Theater.
• Placed on standby status after the war, it was reopened by the Royal Air Force and became a USAF-RAF joint operation base on 11 July 1950.
• The 727th Air Mobility Squadron is a unit of the 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, based at Ramstein AB, Germany.