Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from LKZ to BBG:
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- About this route
- LKZ Airport Information
- BBG Airport Information
- Facts about LKZ
- Facts about BBG
- Map of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- List of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from LKZ
- List of Furthest Airports from LKZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to BBG
- List of Nearest Airports to BBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from BBG
- List of Furthest Airports from BBG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG), Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,576 miles (or 13,801 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 RAF Lakenheath and Butaritari Atoll 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 RAF Lakenheath and Butaritari Atoll Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | LKZ / EGUL |
Airport Name: | RAF Lakenheath |
Location: | Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°24'29"N by 0°33'24"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from LKZ |
More Information: | LKZ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BBG / NGTU |
Airport Name: | Butaritari Atoll Airport |
Location: | Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati |
GPS Coordinates: | 3°5'11"N by 172°48'41"E |
Elevation: | 5 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BBG |
More Information: | BBG Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):
- In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
- The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area.
- By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
- The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
- The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
- The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.
- By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
Facts about Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG):
- The furthest airport from Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Cape Palmas Airport (CPA), which is located 11,920 miles (19,183 kilometers) away in Cape Palmas, Liberia.
- Because of Butaritari Atoll Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Butaritari Atoll 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 airfield was the base of operations for the United States Army Air Forces Seventh Air Force 41st Bombardment Group which flew four squadrons of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers.
- The closest airport to Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Marakei Airport (MZK), which is located 78 miles (126 kilometers) SSE of BBG.
- The Americans pulled out at the end of 1944, abandoning the airfield.
- Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) currently has only 1 runway.