Nonstop flight route between Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Datong, Shanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Datong Yungang Airport (DAT), Datong, Shanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,017 miles (or 8,074 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 Datong Yungang 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 Datong Yungang 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):

• From 1958 Lyneham became one of the 18 Stations designated as dispersal airfields for the RAF's nuclear deterrent V bomber Force.
• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.
• A stone memorial commemorating the RAF's use of the station for over 70 years was unveiled on 1 June 2012.
• 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.
• The station closed on 31 December 2012 with the majority of its personnel and other assets having moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• 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.
• RAF Lyneham (LYE) has 2 runways.
• 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 station was opened on 18 May 1940 as No.

Facts about Datong Yungang Airport (DAT):

• In addition to being known as "Datong Yungang Airport", other names for DAT include "大同云冈机场" and "Dàtóng Yúngāng Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) is Antoine de Saint Exupéry Airport (OES), which is nearly antipodal to Datong Yungang Airport (meaning Datong Yungang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Antoine de Saint Exupéry Airport), and is located 12,345 miles (19,868 kilometers) away in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) is Zhangjiakou Ningyuan Airport (ZQZ), which is located 89 miles (144 kilometers) ENE of DAT.
• Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Datong Yungang Airport handled 117,423 passengers last year.