Nonstop flight route between Lafayette, Louisiana, United States and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT), Lafayette, Louisiana, United States and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,678 miles (or 7,529 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 Lafayette Regional Airport and RAF Northolt, 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 Lafayette Regional Airport and RAF Northolt. 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 Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT):

• The airfield was transferred from the DeRidder AAB to Esler Army Airfield on 24 March 1944.
• The first jet service into the airport was operated by Texas International Airlines with Douglas DC-9-10 twinjets to Houston, Dallas/Ft.
• Because of Lafayette Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Lafayette Regional 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.
• The airport is located next to U.S.
• Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,070 miles (17,815 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The closest airport to Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) is Acadiana Regional Airport (ARA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of LFT.
• Lafayette Regional Airport covers 746 acres at an elevation of 42 feet above mean sea level.
• The three airlines at Lafayette, American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, now use regional jets, although Delta has announced it will begin mainline service nonstop to Atlanta on July 3, 2014 using the Boeing 717 jetliner.

Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):

• Northolt pre-dates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915.
• During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded per annum, making the airfield the busiest in Europe.
• In January 2012, it was reported that the future of station was under review by the Ministry of Defence as part of efforts to reduce defence spending.
• Starting in 1946 the airfield was used by civil aviation during the construction of nearby Heathrow Airport.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
• Attention was high again in 2001 when Ronnie Biggs, the seriously ill, fugitive Great Train Robber, was flown from Brazil to the airfield to be arrested by waiting police officers.
• In 1943, the station became the first to fly sorties using Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXs in German airspace in support of bomber operations.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.