Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Tortuguero, Costa Rica:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Tortuguero Airport (TTQ), Tortuguero, Costa Rica would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,352 miles (or 8,613 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 Tortuguero 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 Tortuguero 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):

• 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.
• During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded per annum, making the airfield the busiest in Europe.
• Attention was high again in 2001 when Ronnie Biggs, the seriously ill, fugitive Great Train Robber, was flown from Brazil to the airfield to be arrested by waiting police officers.
• In August 1996, a Spanish Learjet operated by Mar Aviation overshot runway 25 and collided with a van heading eastward on the A40 Western Avenue.
• An additional memorial to British, Polish, Australian and New Zealand aircrew killed during the Battle of Britain was unveiled in September 2010.
• During the construction of Heathrow Airport, Northolt was used for commercial civil flights, becoming the busiest airport in Europe for a time and a major base for British European Airways.
• 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.
• Squadrons based at RAF Northolt during the battle shot down a total of 148 Luftwaffe aircraft and damaged 52.
• RAF Northolt became home to Prime Minister Winston Churchill's personal aircraft, a modified Douglas C-54 Skymaster, in June 1944.

Facts about Tortuguero Airport (TTQ):

• The closest airport to Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) is Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) NNW of TTQ.
• Because of Tortuguero Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Tortuguero 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 Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Tortuguero Airport (meaning Tortuguero Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,831 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) currently has only 1 runway.