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 501st Combat Support Wing was activated at RAF Mildenhall on 21 May 2005.
• The 95 RS supports RC-135, OC-135, and E-4 missions when theatre deployed.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• RAF Mildenhall opened on 16 October 1934.
• The squadron was redesignated as the 727 AMS on 15 March 2001.

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

• 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.
• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• Beginning in 1961, the 18th was sending its tactical squadrons frequently to South Vietnam and Thailand, initially with its RF-101 reconnaissance forces, and beginning in 1964 with its tactical fighter forces supporting USAF combat missions in the Vietnam War.
• The McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
• 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.
• 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 Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa.
• The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September.
• At the end of the Eisenhower presidency, around 1,700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific, 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base.