Nonstop flight route between Kericho, Kenya and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kericho Airport (KEY), Kericho, Kenya and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,163 miles (or 6,699 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 Kericho 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 Kericho 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 Kericho Airport (KEY):

• There is no regular, scheduled airline service to Kericho Airport at this time.
• Its location is approximately 206 kilometres, by air, northwest of Nairobi International Airport, the country’s largest civilian airport.
• The furthest airport from Kericho Airport (KEY) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,632 miles (18,719 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Kericho Airport (KEY) is Kisumu International Airport (KIS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) WNW of KEY.
• Because of Kericho Airport's high elevation of 7,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KEY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KEY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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 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 reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• 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 work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.