Nonstop flight route between Beijing, People's Republic of China and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing, People's Republic of China and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,074 miles (or 8,165 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 Beijing Capital International Airport and Gatwick 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 Beijing Capital International Airport and Gatwick 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 Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):

• The furthest airport from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Beijing Capital International Airport (meaning Beijing Capital International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,920 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Beijing Capital International Airport", other names for PEK include "北京首都国际机场" and "Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Terminal 3 was designed by a consortium of NACO, UK Architect Foster and Partners and ARUP.
• A 98.3 m monitoring tower stands at the southern end of T3, the highest building at the airport.
• The closest airport to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SSW of PEK.
• Beijing Capital International Airport handled 83,712,355 passengers last year.
• Because of Beijing Capital International Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at Beijing Capital 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.
• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has 3 runways.
• Beijing Capital International Airport is served by the Airport Express Line of the Beijing Subway.
• The roof of T3 has dozens of triangular windows to let in daylight.
• Terminal 1, with 60,000 m2 of space, opened on 1 January 1980, and replaced the smaller existing terminal which was in operation since 1958.
• Beijing Capital International Airport is the main hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, which flies to around 120 destinations from Beijing.

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• On 6 July 1935, the aerodrome closed temporarily for renovations, which included the construction of the "Beehive", the world's first circular terminal building.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• In July 1952, the British government confirmed that the airport would be renovated, primarily for aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome in 1932, and operated a flying school.
• A second 875-foot extension of Gatwick's runway was completed in 1970, bringing it to 9,075 ft and permitting non-stop jet flights to the US east coast with a full payload and full range and payload operations by British United Airways and Caledonian Airways BAC One-Eleven 500s.BEA Airtours made Gatwick their base.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.
• In 1983, as passenger numbers grew, a round satellite pier was added to the terminal building connected to the main terminal by the UK's first automated people mover system.
• The name "Gatwick" was first recorded as "Gatwik" in 1241 on the site of today's airport, on the northern edge of the North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area.
• The first scheduled flight departed from the Beehive terminal on 17 May 1936, bound for Paris.
• Despite the rapid expansion of BUA's scheduled activities at Gatwick, the airport was dominated by non-scheduled services into the 1980s.