Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Luganville, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,854 miles (or 15,859 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 Santo-Pekoa International 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 Santo-Pekoa International 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):

• 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.
• RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, west London.
• In January 2012, it was reported that the future of station was under review by the Ministry of Defence as part of efforts to reduce defence spending.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1943, the station became the first to fly sorties using Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXs in German airspace in support of bomber operations.

Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
• Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International 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.
• The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
• The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the Guadalcanal Campaign.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.