Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Al Najaf, Iraq:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Al Najaf International Airport (NJF), Al Najaf, Iraq would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,594 miles (or 4,174 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 Al Najaf 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 Al Najaf 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.

Facts about Al Najaf International Airport (NJF):

• Al Najaf International Airport (NJF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Al Najaf International Airport (NJF) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,820 miles (19,022 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Al Najaf International Airport (NJF) is Baghdad International Airport (BGW), which is located 88 miles (142 kilometers) N of NJF.
• On 20 July 2008 the Najaf Authorities hosted the ceremonial opening attended by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki who stepped out of the first official plane.
• Al Najaf International Airport is the airport serving Najaf, Iraq, and is located on the eastern side of the city.