Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Handan, Hebei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Handan Airport (HDG), Handan, Hebei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,193 miles (or 8,357 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 Handan 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 Handan 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 RAF Northolt (NHT):

• Following Louis Blériot's first flight across the English Channel in 1909, the British Army considered the necessity of defending the United Kingdom from a future air attack.
• Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year.
• 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.
• Northolt received its first gate guardian, a Spitfire F.Mk 22, in September 1963.
• Northolt became an active base during the Second World War for Royal Air Force and Polish Air Force squadrons in their defence of the United Kingdom.
• Construction of the new aerodrome, to be named "RFC Military School, Ruislip", began in January 1915.
• The remains of a Hawker Hurricane flown by Flying Officer Ludwik Witold Paszkiewicz, the first pilot in No. 303 Squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft, were donated to the station in June 2008.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.

Facts about Handan Airport (HDG):

• The furthest airport from Handan Airport (HDG) is Santa Rosa Airport (RSA), which is nearly antipodal to Handan Airport (meaning Handan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Rosa Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Santa Rosa, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Handan Airport (HDG) is Xingtai Dalian Airport (XNT), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of HDG.
• In addition to being known as "Handan Airport", other names for HDG include "邯郸机场" and "Hándān Jīchǎng".