Nonstop flight route between Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,139 miles (or 9,880 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 Mildenhall and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Mildenhall and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• Assigned from Strategic Air Command to United States Air Forces in Europe on 1 September 1959 and RAF relinquished joint operations status that date.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 1 October 2002, the 488th was re-aligned from the 67th Information Operations Wing to the 55th Wing.
• RAF Mildenhall hosts units from four different major USAF commands – Air Combat Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Mobility Command and United States Air Forces in Europe.
• The host unit at Mildenhall is the 100th Air Refueling Wing, which deploys aircraft for and manages the European Tanker Task Force, a rotational force which provides air refuelling to US and NATO aircraft in the European Theater.
• The present 488th Intelligence Squadron traces its lineage back to the 6954th Security Squadron which was originally designated Detachment 1 of the 6985th Security Squadron at RAF Upper Heyford, England, in June 1967.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• Since November 1954, the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan-ni AB, South Korea on 1 November 1954, flying three squadrons of North American F-86 Sabres.
• The McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.