Nonstop flight route between Luton (near London), England, United Kingdom and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between London Luton Airport (LTN), Luton (near London), England, United Kingdom and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,862 miles (or 7,825 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 London Luton Airport and Dyess Air Force Base, 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 London Luton Airport and Dyess Air Force Base. 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 London Luton Airport (LTN):

• The airport possesses a single runway, running roughly east to west, with a length of 2,160 m at an elevation of 526 ft.
• London Luton Airport handled 9,697,944 passengers last year.
• London Luton Airport (LTN) currently has only 1 runway.
• London Luton Airport is an international airport located 1.5 nautical miles east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is 30.5 NM north of Central London.
• In the 1980s the airport was seeing a decline in customer numbers.
• The furthest airport from London Luton Airport (LTN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,851 miles (19,072 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to London Luton Airport (LTN) is Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SSE of LTN.
• The airport was also mentioned in a famous Campari advert featuring Lorraine Chase, with the punch line "Were you truly wafted here from paradise?".
• Because of London Luton Airport's relatively low elevation of 526 feet, planes can take off or land at London Luton 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.
• Following the war, the land was returned to the local council which continued activity at the airport as a commercial operation.
• The northern side of the U-shaped apron is ringed by a continuous line of hangars and other buildings, emphasising the fact that Luton is a major maintenance base for several airlines including Thomson Airways, Monarch and EasyJet.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The base is located in the southwest corner of Abilene, TX and is about 200 miles west of Dallas.
• Dyess AFB was established in 1942 as Abilene Army Air Base.
• Dyess AFB is also home to several tenant units, including Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 222.
• With the end of the war, the base was declared inactive on 31 January 1946.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• On 19 November 1959, the United States Army conducted groundbreaking ceremonies at Dyess AFB for the battalion headquarters of the 5th Missile Battalion, 517th Artillery of the U.S.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The 77th and 69th groups were units that trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas.
• On 25 March 1944, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt training for flight cadets was taken over by the 261st Army Air Force Base Unit.