Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Makemo, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Makemo Airport (MKP), Makemo, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,291 miles (or 14,952 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 Makemo 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 Makemo 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 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Makemo Airport (MKP):

• The closest airport to Makemo Airport (MKP) is Raroia Airport (RRR), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) ENE of MKP.
• The furthest airport from Makemo Airport (MKP) is Kassala Airport (KSL), which is nearly antipodal to Makemo Airport (meaning Makemo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kassala Airport), and is located 12,354 miles (19,882 kilometers) away in Kassala, Sudan.
• Because of Makemo Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Makemo 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.