Nonstop flight route between Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Zhongwei, Ningxia, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY), Zhongwei, Ningxia, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,880 miles (or 7,853 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 Zhongwei Shapotou 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 Zhongwei Shapotou 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):

• 99 Squadron reformed on 17 November 1945, at RAF Lyneham equipped with the Avro York, it operated as part of the Berlin Airlift.
• The decision to close RAF Lyneham was made in 2002, and it was scheduled for closure by 2012 with all functions and aircraft relocated to RAF Brize Norton.
• 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.
• 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 closed on 31 December 2012 with the majority of its personnel and other assets having moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• RAF Lyneham received the first of 25 brand-new Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules on 23 November 1999, to be operated by Nos.
• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.

Facts about Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY):

• Because of Zhongwei Shapotou Airport's high elevation of 8,202 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZHY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZHY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Zhongwei Shapotou Airport", other names for ZHY include "中卫沙坡头机场" and "Zhōngwèi Shāpōtóu Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Yinchuan Hedong International Airport (INC), which is located 85 miles (137 kilometers) NE of ZHY.
• The furthest airport from Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (meaning Zhongwei Shapotou Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) currently has only 1 runway.