Nonstop flight route between Lympne, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lympne Airport (LYM), Lympne, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,259 miles (or 6,854 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 Lympne Airport and Eielson 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 Lympne Airport and Eielson 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 Lympne Airport (LYM):

• During the General Strike of 1926, which ran from 3–13 May, the Daily Mail was printed in Paris and flown from there to Lympne on Handley Page W.10 Imperial Airways aircraft.
• In May 1939, Lympne was transferred to Fighter Command.
• Lympne Airport (LYM) currently has only 1 runway.
• In April 1935, Air Traffic Control in the United Kingdom was improved by the introduction of a new control zone system.
• The furthest airport from Lympne Airport (LYM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,921 miles (19,184 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Lympne Airport", another name for LYM is "Ashford Airport".
• A Junkers F.13 called at Lympne on 10 January 1923 to clear customs and then flew to Croydon where it was inspected by Secretary of State for Air Sir Samuel Hoare.
• Work began on creating a landing ground at Folks Wood, Lympne, in the autumn of 1915.
• Because of Lympne Airport's relatively low elevation of 351 feet, planes can take off or land at Lympne 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.
• The closest airport to Lympne Airport (LYM) is Lydd International Airport (LYX), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SSW of LYM.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• Until 2007, Eielson was a front line base, deploying fighter and bomber units around the world as well as providing for the defense of Alaska.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• The 720th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, equipped with F-86 Sabres, was deployed to Eielson during 1954–55.
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• On 7 June 1943, the Western Defense Command ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day Fort Wainwright, then an Army airfield named after Major Arthur Ladd.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• The base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field.
• A year later, however, Eielson moved from under the shadow of Ladd Field when the Alaskan Air Command assumed organizational control.
• Taken off deployment status in 2007 as a result of BRAC 2005, today the primary mission of the base is to support Red Flag-Alaska, a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S.
• For the next 34 years, the 5010th served as host-unit at Eielson.
• Today the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division can be found training there.
• The 6th SW flew RC–135 strategic reconnaissance missions with an assigned squadron, and, with KC–135s deployed to Eielson from SAC, AFRES, and the ANG, conducted Alaska Tanker Task Force missions to support reconnaissance and numerous exercises for the Air Force and Navy.