Nonstop flight route between Carbondale/Murphysboro, Illinois, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Southern Illinois Airport (MDH), Carbondale/Murphysboro, Illinois, United States and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,213 miles (or 6,780 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 Southern Illinois Airport 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 Southern Illinois Airport 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 Southern Illinois Airport (MDH):

• The airport is owned and operated by Southern Illinois Airport Authority, a local governmental entity created under state law.
• The furthest airport from Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,052 miles (17,786 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) is Williamson County Regional Airport (MWA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) E of MDH.
• The airport is capable of accommodating a variety of aircraft up to and including the Boeing 757.
• An air traffic control tower operates from 7am to 9pm each day and an ASOS weather facility operates on a 24-hour basis.
• Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) has 3 runways.
• Because of Southern Illinois Airport's relatively low elevation of 411 feet, planes can take off or land at Southern Illinois 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.
• Southern Illinois Airport makes a substantial contribution to the local economy.

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• Gatwick Airport is located 2.7 nautical miles north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 miles south of Central London.
• In November 1972, Laker Airways became the first operator of wide-body aircraft at Gatwick after the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft.
• In July 1952, the British government confirmed that the airport would be renovated, primarily for aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009.
• On 1 May 1963, non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights.
• 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.
• In 1935, a new airline, Allied British Airways, was formed with the merger of Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways.