Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Yushu County, Qinghai, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), Yushu County, Qinghai, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,710 miles (or 7,580 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 Yushu Batang 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 Yushu Batang 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):

• RAF Lakenheath, and nearby, RAF Mildenhall, are the two main U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Yushu Batang Airport (YUS):

• The closest airport to Yushu Batang Airport (YUS) is Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) S of YUS.
• The furthest airport from Yushu Batang Airport (YUS) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is located 11,813 miles (19,012 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Yushu Batang Airport", other names for YUS include "玉树巴塘机场" and "Yùshù Batáng Jīchǎng".
• Because of Yushu Batang Airport's high elevation of 12,762 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at YUS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make YUS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport played an important role in the delivery of rescue personnel and relief supplies to the area affected by the 2010 Yushu earthquake.