Nonstop flight route between Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Cotonou, Benin:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO), Cotonou, Benin would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,130 miles (or 5,037 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 Lyneham and Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 Lyneham and Cotonou Cadjehoun 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 Lyneham (LYE):

• RAF Lyneham was the Royal Air Force's principal Transport hub, operating the modern Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, and the aging, but very adaptable, Lockheed C-130K Hercules.
• In 1956, with the arrival of the de Havilland Comet operated by 216 Squadron, the main runway was extended from 6,000 feet to its present length of 7,830 feet.
• RAF Lyneham (LYE) has 2 runways.
• A single enemy aircraft attacked the station on 19 September 1940, dropping an incendiary and two high explosive bombs before strafing part of the airfield.
• Royal Air Force Station Lyneham or more simply RAF Lyneham is a former Royal Air Force station located 6.3 miles north east of Chippenham, Wiltshire and 10.3 miles south west of Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.
• RAF Lyneham received the first of 25 brand-new Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules on 23 November 1999, to be operated by Nos.
• The station closed on 31 December 2012 with the majority of its personnel and other assets having moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• Because of RAF Lyneham's relatively low elevation of 512 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Lyneham 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.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lyneham (LYE) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,913 miles (19,172 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Facts about Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO):

• Because of Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Cotonou Cadjehoun 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.
• Plans were revived in 2011 and President Yayi Boni presided at a ceremonial start to the construction of the new airport, using South African funding.
• In 1974, it was decided to move the operations of the Cotonou international airport to a new facility in Glo-Djigbé.
• The closest airport to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) ENE of COO.
• Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is an airport in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin in West Africa.
• Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (meaning Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,172 miles (19,589 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
• In 2004, the airport served 301,493 passengers.