Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Lahad Datu Airport (LDU), Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,070 miles (or 11,379 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 Lahad Datu 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 Lahad Datu 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 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• 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 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.

Facts about Lahad Datu Airport (LDU):

• Lahad Datu Airport handled 99,983 passengers last year.
• Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Semporna Airport (SMM), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SSE of LDU.
• Because of Lahad Datu Airport's relatively low elevation of 45 feet, planes can take off or land at Lahad Datu 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 Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Lahad Datu Airport (meaning Lahad Datu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,319 miles (19,826 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Lahad Datu Airport", another name for LDU is "Lapangan Terbang Lahad Datu 拿笃机场".