Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Nairobi, Kenya:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from LGW to WIL:
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- About this route
- LGW Airport Information
- WIL Airport Information
- Facts about LGW
- Facts about WIL
- Map of Nearest Airports to LGW
- List of Nearest Airports to LGW
- Map of Furthest Airports from LGW
- List of Furthest Airports from LGW
- Map of Nearest Airports to WIL
- List of Nearest Airports to WIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WIL
- List of Furthest Airports from WIL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Wilson Airport (WIL), Nairobi, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,223 miles (or 6,797 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 Wilson 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 Wilson Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | LGW / EGKK |
| Airport Name: | Gatwick Airport |
| Location: | London, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°8'53"N by 0°11'25"W |
| Area Served: | London, United Kingdom |
| Operator/Owner: | Global Infrastructure Partners |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 203 feet (62 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from LGW |
| More Information: | LGW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WIL / HKNW |
| Airport Name: | Wilson Airport |
| Location: | Nairobi, Kenya |
| GPS Coordinates: | 1°19'12"S by 36°48'53"E |
| Area Served: | Nairobi |
| Operator/Owner: | Kenya Airports Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public, Civilian |
| Elevation: | 5546 feet (1,690 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WIL |
| More Information: | WIL Maps & Info |
Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):
- Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
- On 6 July 1935, the aerodrome closed temporarily for renovations, which included the construction of the "Beehive", the world's first circular terminal building.
- British Caledonian began the first transatlantic scheduled service by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles from Gatwick in April 1973.
- The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
- 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 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.
- In July 1952, the British government confirmed that the airport would be renovated, primarily for aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
- Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
- 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.
Facts about Wilson Airport (WIL):
- Airkenya and other small airlines use Wilson Airport for scheduled domestic passenger services, instead of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
- Because of Wilson Airport's high elevation of 5,546 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Wilson Airport (WIL) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Wilson Airport (WIL) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) E of WIL.
- The airport was established in 1933 as Nairobi Aerodrome and was used by Imperial Airways Empire air mail services from the United Kingdom via Egypt and continuing in stages to South Africa.
- The furthest airport from Wilson Airport (WIL) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,619 miles (18,698 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
