Nonstop flight route between Fort Myers, Florida, United States and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), Fort Myers, Florida, United States and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,443 miles (or 7,150 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 Southwest Florida International Airport and RAF Northolt, 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 Southwest Florida International Airport and RAF Northolt. 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 Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW):

• Southwest Florida International Airport is a public county-owned airport in the South Fort Myers region of unincorporated Lee County, Florida.
• A new $16 million Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting facility opened in July 2013.
• Because of Southwest Florida International Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Southwest Florida 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.
• For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2011, the airport had 83,385 aircraft operations, an average of 228 per day.
• Southwest Florida International Airport handled 7,637,801 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Page Field (FMY), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of RSW.
• The furthest airport from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,486 miles (18,485 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1988 the airport exceeded its annual capacity of 3 million passengers.

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.
• 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.
• During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded per annum, making the airfield the busiest in Europe.
• 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.
• 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.
• Starting in 1946 the airfield was used by civil aviation during the construction of nearby Heathrow Airport.
• An additional memorial to British, Polish, Australian and New Zealand aircrew killed during the Battle of Britain was unveiled in September 2010.
• Northolt pre-dates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915.
• RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, west London.