Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Jacquinot Bay, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Jacquinot Bay Airport (JAQ), Jacquinot Bay, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,809 miles (or 14,177 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 Jacquinot Bay 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 Jacquinot Bay 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):

• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• 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 work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• 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.

Facts about Jacquinot Bay Airport (JAQ):

• Following the Japanese surrender several Japanese aircraft were flown from Vunakanau Airfield to Jacquinot Bay Airfield.
• The closest airport to Jacquinot Bay Airport (JAQ) is Manguna Airport (MFO), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) ENE of JAQ.
• Jacquinot Bay Airport (JAQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Jacquinot Bay Airport (JAQ) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,743 miles (18,899 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Because of Jacquinot Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 210 feet, planes can take off or land at Jacquinot Bay 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 addition to being known as "Jacquinot Bay Airport", other names for JAQ include "AYJB" and "Jacquinot Bay Airport".