Nonstop flight route between New York City, New York, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York City, New York, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,461 miles (or 5,570 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 LaGuardia 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 LaGuardia 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 LaGuardia Airport (LGA):

• The initiative to develop the airport for commercial flights began with an outburst by New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia upon the arrival of his TWA flight at Newark Airport – the only commercial airport serving the New York City region at the time – as his ticket said "New York".
• LaGuardia has four terminals connected by buses and walkways.
• Because of LaGuardia Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at LaGuardia 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 furthest airport from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,754 miles (18,917 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA) has 2 runways.
• The terminal was connected to Terminal C by a 600-foot walkway that opened in early 2013, part of Delta's effort to build a hub at LaGuardia.
• The closest airport to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is Flushing Airport (closed 1984) (FLU), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) E of LGA.
• LaGuardia opened with four runways at 45-degree angles to each other, the longest being 6,000 ft.
• LaGuardia has also been criticized for some of its outdated facilities.

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.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• 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.
• 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 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.