Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Phoenix, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,254 miles (or 8,455 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor 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):

• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX):

• The furthest airport from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,427 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) has 3 runways.
• A future three-part construction and renovation project will combine Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, and update the facilities.
• The closest airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Scottsdale Airport (SCF), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) NNE of PHX.
• The $835,000 Terminal 1 which also had the first control tower, opened in October 1952.
• In 2007 the Transportation Security Administration introduced the first of its backscatter X-ray machines at PHX.