Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Francistown, Botswana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between London City Airport (LCY), London, England, United Kingdom and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW), Francistown, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,288 miles (or 8,511 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 London City Airport and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base, 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 London City Airport and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base. 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 London City Airport (LCY):

• In 1990 the airport handled 230,000 passengers, but the figures fell drastically after the Gulf War and did not recover until 1993, when 245,000 passengers were carried.
• London City Airport is small compared with the other five London international airports.
• London City Airport handled 3,379,753 passengers last year.
• Construction began on the site shortly after permission was granted, with Charles, Prince of Wales laying the foundation stone of the terminal building, designed by R Seifert and Partners, on 2 May 1986.
• In October 2006, the airport was purchased from Dermot Desmond by a consortium comprising insurer AIG Financial Products Corp.
• In 1988, the first full year of operation, the airport handled 133,000 passengers.
• London City Airport (LCY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from London City Airport (LCY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,881 miles (19,121 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of London City Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at London City 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.
• Mid-range airliners seen at London City include the ATR 42, ATR 72, Airbus A318, DHC Dash 8, BAe 146/Avro RJ, Dornier 328, Embraer ERJ 135, Embraer 170/175,Embraer 190/195 and Fokker 50.
• The closest airport to London City Airport (LCY) is London Biggin Hill Airport (BQH), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of LCY.

Facts about Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW):

• The furthest airport from Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (meaning Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,707 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• In addition to being known as "Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base", another name for FRW is "FBFT [1]".
• The closest airport to Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) is Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ), which is located 108 miles (174 kilometers) NE of FRW.
• Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) has 2 runways.
• The new terminal building opened in 2011 and the old terminal is now used by the Botswana Defence Force.
• In 2011 the airport's ownership of the old terminal was transferred to the Botswana Defence Force and became a military airport, with civilian traffic moved to the new Francistown International Airport terminal to the west of the airport lands.
• However, currently the project is expected to miss its May deadline, after the airport in Gaborone also missed its deadline set date for May 10, 2010, with contractors at both sites struggling to finalise each stage of construction in time.