Nonstop flight route between Lelystad, Netherlands and Gweru, Zimbabwe:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lelystad Airport (LEY), Lelystad, Netherlands and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,178 miles (or 8,334 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 Lelystad Airport and Gweru-Thornhill 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 Lelystad Airport and Gweru-Thornhill 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 Lelystad Airport (LEY):

• The closest airport to Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of LEY.
• Because of Lelystad Airport's relatively low elevation of -12 feet, planes can take off or land at Lelystad 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.
• Lelystad Airport (LEY) has 2 runways.
• At first Lelystad had grass taxi- and runways, but it was found that the clay could not support all the traffic, and tracks started to form.
• The furthest airport from Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,832 miles (19,042 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• An expansion of the airport is planned which would allow mainly budget airlines, holiday charters and regional airlines using aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 series to operate from Lelystad.

Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):

• Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
• Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.