Nonstop flight route between Long Beach, California, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Long Beach Airport (LGB), Long Beach, California, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,431 miles (or 8,741 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 Long Beach 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 Long Beach 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 Long Beach Airport (LGB):

• Long Beach Airport handled 2,978,433 passengers last year.
• So the Navy had begun a survey for another site — unknown to city officials at the time.
• Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan used to fly regularly out of Daugherty Field.
• During the 1940s and 1950s, the only airline non-stops from Long Beach Airport were to Los Angeles, San Diego, and sometimes Catalina Island.
• The closest airport to Long Beach Airport (LGB) is Long Beach Airport (JLB), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of LGB.
• Because of Long Beach Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Long Beach 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.
• Long Beach Airport (LGB) has 5 runways.
• In 2009 Mario Rodriguez was appointed director.
• The Boeing Company maintains production of the C-17 military transport jet.
• The furthest airport from Long Beach Airport (LGB) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,489 miles (18,489 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• To attract the United States Navy, the City of Long Beach built a hangar and an administrative building and then offered to lease it to the Navy for $1 a year for the establishment of the Naval Reserve Air Base.
• In 1981, the startup airline Jet America began non-stop MD-80 service to Chicago and, in 1982, to Dallas-Fort Worth.
• The Long Beach Airport has an aggressive noise abatement program which includes three full-time noise specialists.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
• Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.
• 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.