Nonstop flight route between Gunsan, South Korea and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gunsan Airport (KUV), Gunsan, South Korea and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,527 miles (or 8,894 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 Gunsan 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 Gunsan 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 Gunsan Airport (KUV):

• In addition to being known as "Gunsan Airport", other names for KUV include "군산공항 群山空港", "Gunsan Gonghang" and "Kunsan Konghang".
• The furthest airport from Gunsan Airport (KUV) is Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport (PDP), which is nearly antipodal to Gunsan Airport (meaning Gunsan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport), and is located 12,316 miles (19,821 kilometers) away in Maldonado/Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay.
• Because of Gunsan Airport's relatively low elevation of 29 feet, planes can take off or land at Gunsan 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.
• Gunsan Airport (KUV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Gunsan Airport (KUV) is Gwangju Airport (KWJ), which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) SSE of KUV.
• Gunsan Airport handled 133,242 passengers last year.

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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.
• 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.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.