Nonstop flight route between Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between João Paulo II Airport (PDL), Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,618 miles (or 2,604 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 relatively short distance between João Paulo II Airport and RAF Lakenheath, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about João Paulo II Airport (PDL):

• João Paulo II Airport handled 928,801 passengers last year.
• It has scheduled domestic flights to all islands of the Azores, plus Madeira and the mainland.
• João Paulo II Airport (PDL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "João Paulo II Airport", another name for PDL is "Aeroporto João Paulo II".
• The closest airport to João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) SSE of PDL.
• Because of João Paulo II Airport's relatively low elevation of 259 feet, planes can take off or land at João Paulo II 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 João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to João Paulo II Airport (meaning João Paulo II Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,188 miles (19,615 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.