Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Shannon (County Clare), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 387 miles (or 623 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 relatively short distance between Gatwick Airport and Shannon Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• 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.
• Beginning in the late 1950s, a number of British contemporary private airlines joined Airwork at the airport.
• 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.
• The name "Gatwick" was first recorded as "Gatwik" in 1241 on the site of today's airport, on the northern edge of the North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area.
• 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.
• Two fatal accidents occurred, raising questions about the airport's safety.
• British Caledonian began the first transatlantic scheduled service by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles from Gatwick in April 1973.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• 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.

Facts about Shannon Airport (SNN):

• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Shannon holds an important place in Ireland's aviation history as it was the first transatlantic gateway between Ireland and the US, and the birthplace of Duty-free shopping and of aviation leasing.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• In 1966, Aer Lingus began service between Shannon and Chicago, with a stop in Montréal, Canada.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.
• In 2011, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7.4% from 1,755,885, to 1,625,549.
• It has been hinted that a route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol or Frankfurt Airport could commence in 2015.
• When World War II ended, the airport was ready to be used by the many new post-war commercial airlines of Europe and North America.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Shannon continued to expand during the Celtic Tiger years with many services operated to the US and Canada.