Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Beckley, West Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), Beckley, West Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,888 miles (or 6,257 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 Gatwick Airport and Raleigh County Memorial Airport, 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 Gatwick Airport and Raleigh County Memorial Airport. 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• In May 1950, Gatwick's first charter flight left the airport's original grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
• The 20th anniversary of Gatwick's reopening by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 June 1978 coincided with the introduction by BCal, British Airways Helicopters and the BAA of Airlink, a helicopter shuttle service operating 10 times daily to Heathrow.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• Gatwick Airport is located 2.7 nautical miles north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 miles south of Central London.
• The Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome in 1932, and operated a flying school.
• On 9 April 1965, a BUA One-Eleven operated the type's first commercial service from Gatwick to Genoa.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.
• On 1 May 1963, non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• On 1 April 1961, BEA began operating half its London–Paris flights from Gatwick.

Facts about Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW):

• In 2005, the airport was the least busy airport with scheduled airline service in the United States, with 2,578 passengers using the facility that year.
• The closest airport to Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Mercer County Airport (BLF), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) S of BKW.
• The furthest airport from Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,491 miles (18,494 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Raleigh County Memorial Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Beckley, a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States.
• Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) has 2 runways.