Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Cancún International Airport (CUN), Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,971 miles (or 8,000 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 Cancún 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 Cancún 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):

• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy 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.
• 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".

Facts about Cancún International Airport (CUN):

• The airport has three terminals, two of which are currently in use, with Terminal 1 scheduled for remodeling.
• In 2005 ASUR invested US$150 million for the construction of Terminal 3, a new runway, and a new control tower.
• The airport has been expanding as it has become one of the most important international airports in the country.
• Cancún International Airport (CUN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Cancún International Airport (CUN) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,778 miles (18,955 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• On June 1, 2013 it was announced that the Mexican Port Authority will be constructing a Terminal 4 at CUN.
• The closest airport to Cancún International Airport (CUN) is Cozumel International Airport (CZM), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) S of CUN.
• In addition to being known as "Cancún International Airport", another name for CUN is "Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancún".
• Because of Cancún International Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Cancún International 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.