Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Itami (near Osaka), Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Osaka International Airport (ITM), Itami (near Osaka), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,917 miles (or 9,523 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 Osaka International 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 Osaka International 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 first scheduled flight departed from the Beehive terminal on 17 May 1936, bound for Paris.
• 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.
• From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.US Airways, Gatwick's last remaining US carrier, ended service from the airport on 30 March 2013.
• In November 1972, Laker Airways became the first operator of wide-body aircraft at Gatwick after the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft.
• Queen Elizabeth II flew into Gatwick on 9 June 1958 in a de Havilland Heron of the Queen's Flight for the opening.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• Gatwick Airport is located 2.7 nautical miles north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 miles south of Central London.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• 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.

Facts about Osaka International Airport (ITM):

• Itami is currently limited to domestic flights, and can only handle 18 landings per hour and 370 landings per day.
• Jet flights at Itami began on June 1, 1964, and triggered complaints by neighboring residents about noise pollution.
• The government proposed changing Itami's status from first-class airport to second-class airport, which would saddle local governments with one-third of its operating costs.
• Osaka International Airport (ITM) has 2 runways.
• Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka International 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.
• Itami was renamed Osaka Airport following its return to Japanese control in March 1959.
• In addition to being known as "Osaka International Airport", other names for ITM include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港" and "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Osaka International Airport (OSA), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ITM.