Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,344 miles (or 5,381 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 Westover Air Reserve 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 Gatwick Airport and Westover Air Reserve 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• The first scheduled flight departed from the Beehive terminal on 17 May 1936, bound for Paris.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009.
• The third extension to Gatwick's runway was completed in 1973, bringing it to 10,165 ft and allowing for non-stop narrow-body operations to the US west coast and commercially viable, long-range wide-body operations.Wardair became the first airline to operate Boeing 747s at Gatwick.KLM augmented its Heathrow–Amsterdam service with a Gatwick–Amsterdam route, making it the first non-UK airline to split operations between Heathrow and Gatwick for commercial reasons rather than to comply with government directives.
• On 1 April 1961, BEA began operating half its London–Paris flights from Gatwick.
• Despite the rapid expansion of BUA's scheduled activities at Gatwick, the airport was dominated by non-scheduled services into the 1980s.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• Westover Field was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed.
• On 1 February 1946 Westover became an Air Transport Command base which meant that it was the terminus for air routes around the world.
• The mission of Westover was to organize and provide initial training to new combat units.
• Current military operations at Westover Air Reserve Base are centered around its exceptionally long runways.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• ADC established a more substantial presence in July 1957 when the 4729th Air Defense Group was activated.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.