Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,052 miles (or 4,911 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 King Khalid 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 King Khalid 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):

• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• In May 1950, Gatwick's first charter flight left the airport's original grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
• On 1 April 1978, British Airways and Aer Lingus began daily scheduled flights between Gatwick and Dublin, the first use of Gatwick as a London terminal for scheduled services between the British and Irish capitals and the first BA scheduled service from Gatwick with aircraft based at the airport.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• Gatwick Airport is located 2.7 nautical miles north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 miles south of Central London.
• On 27 May 1958, the original Gatwick railway station reopened as the Gatwick Airport station, and the Tinsley Green station was closed.
• 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.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• During the late 1920s, land adjacent to the racecourse was used as an aerodrome.

Facts about King Khalid International Airport (RUH):

• The new expansion plan for Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport aims at increasing its capacity from 12 million to 35 million.
• This airport consists of 4 passenger terminals with eight aero-bridges each, a mosque, covered and uncovered car parking for 11,600 vehicles, a Royal Terminal, a central control tower, and two parallel runways, which are each 4,260 metres long.
• King Khalid International Airport handled 13,919,000 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Khalid International Airport (meaning King Khalid International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• The 1703rd ARW was composed mainly of KC-135 Stratotankers and used the north western firehouse as its headquarters of air operations.
• Additional passenger conveniences in the terminal complex include 80 elevators and escalators.
• In addition to being known as "King Khalid International Airport", another name for RUH is "مطار الملك خالد الدولي".
• The terminals are connected to each other by means of three linking buildings, These buildings are 168 metres long.
• The closest airport to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 166 miles (266 kilometers) WSW of RUH.
• King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has 2 runways.
• A general aviation complex has been constructed north of runway number 1 for use by private aircraft and is reached by a special access road which runs north from the airport access highway.