Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Shangri-La, Yunnan, China:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from NHT to DIG:
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- About this route
- NHT Airport Information
- DIG Airport Information
- Facts about NHT
- Facts about DIG
- Map of Nearest Airports to NHT
- List of Nearest Airports to NHT
- Map of Furthest Airports from NHT
- List of Furthest Airports from NHT
- Map of Nearest Airports to DIG
- List of Nearest Airports to DIG
- Map of Furthest Airports from DIG
- List of Furthest Airports from DIG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG), Shangri-La, Yunnan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,141 miles (or 8,274 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 Northolt and Dêqên Shangri-La 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 RAF Northolt and Dêqên Shangri-La Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NHT / EGWU |
Airport Name: | RAF Northolt |
Location: | Ruislip, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°33'11"N by 0°25'5"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from NHT |
More Information: | NHT Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DIG / ZPDQ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shangri-La, Yunnan, China |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°47'35"N by 99°40'38"E |
Operator/Owner: | Yunnan Airport Group |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 10761 feet (3,280 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DIG |
More Information: | DIG Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):
- On 1 June 1960, an Avro Anson aircraft suffered engine failure soon after take-off from Northolt and crash-landed on top of the nearby Express Dairies plant in South Ruislip.
- Group Captain Tom Barrett, appointed station commander in September 2009 and the final station commander of neighbouring RAF Uxbridge, died on 10 March 2011 following a road traffic accident on the A40.Wing Commander Jules Stilwell paid tribute to Group Captain Barrett, saying, "Tom was an extraordinary person.
- On 15 September 1940 during the Battle of Britain, No. 1 Squadron RCAF, No. 229 Squadron, No.
- Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
- The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
- Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year.
Facts about Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG):
- The furthest airport from Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,866 miles (19,096 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
- In addition to being known as "Dêqên Shangri-La Airport", other names for DIG include "迪庆香格里拉机场" and "Díqìng Xiānggélǐlā Jīchǎng".
- Because of Dêqên Shangri-La Airport's high elevation of 10,761 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DIG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DIG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) is Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG), which is located 85 miles (136 kilometers) SSE of DIG.