Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Chengdu, Sichuan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), Chengdu, Sichuan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,089 miles (or 8,190 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 Chengdu Shuangliu 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 RAF Lakenheath and Chengdu Shuangliu 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 RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
• A near nuclear accident occurred on 27 July 1956 – when a B-47 bomber crashed into a storage igloo at Lakenheath containing three MK-6 nuclear weapons while on a routine training mission.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.

Facts about Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU):

• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) NE of CTU.
• On May 12, 2008 the airport was temporarily shut down after sustaining some minor damages from the great Sichuan Earthquake but was quickly reopened the following day after inspection of the runway.
• In 2013 United Airlines announced it would start a thrice-weekly flight from San Francisco to Chengdu, operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport", other names for CTU include "成都双流国际机场" and "Chéngdū Shuāngliú Guójì Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is nearly antipodal to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (meaning Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Florida Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• Terminal 2 under construction
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 31,500,000 passengers last year.