Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), Sacramento, California, United States and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,288 miles (or 8,511 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield and Gatwick 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield and Gatwick 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC):

• The airport is on the former site of McClellan Air Force Base, which existed as a military base from 1939 to 2000.
• The closest airport to Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) is Sacramento Mather Airport (MHR), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SE of MCC.
• The furthest airport from Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,276 miles (18,146 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield 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.

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Although the airport was officially decommissioned in 1946, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued operating it as a civil airfield.
• On 27 May 1958, the original Gatwick railway station reopened as the Gatwick Airport station, and the Tinsley Green station was closed.
• BEA Helicopters made Gatwick their administrative and engineering base on 1 January 1964.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• On 6 July 1935, the aerodrome closed temporarily for renovations, which included the construction of the "Beehive", the world's first circular terminal building.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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 third extension to Gatwick's runway was completed in 1973, bringing it to 10,165 ft and allowing for non-stop narrow-body operations to the US west coast and commercially viable, long-range wide-body operations.Wardair became the first airline to operate Boeing 747s at Gatwick.KLM augmented its Heathrow–Amsterdam service with a Gatwick–Amsterdam route, making it the first non-UK airline to split operations between Heathrow and Gatwick for commercial reasons rather than to comply with government directives.
• The name "Gatwick" was first recorded as "Gatwik" in 1241 on the site of today's airport, on the northern edge of the North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area.