Nonstop flight route between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Birmingham, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Birmingham Airport (BHX), Birmingham, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,143 miles (or 5,058 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 King Khalid International Airport and Birmingham 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 King Khalid International Airport and Birmingham 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 King Khalid International Airport (RUH):

• The United States Air Force effectively took over these facilities temporarily from August 1990 through May 1991 as an airbase for aerial refueling tanker operations in support of the Gulf War.
• In addition, during the 1990–1991 Gulf War, the airport was the home to 205 General Evacuation Hospital RAMC of the British Army, who were accommodated at the nearby Singles Compound.
• In addition to being known as "King Khalid International Airport", another name for RUH is "مطار الملك خالد الدولي".
• Two large three-level garages have been constructed directly in front of the passenger terminals, one on either side of the airport mosque.
• Centrally located in the passenger terminal complex, between the Royal Pavilion and the mosque is the air traffic control tower standing at 81 metres high.
• The furthest airport from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Khalid International Airport (meaning King Khalid International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has 2 runways.
• There is a total of 1,196 metres of the walkways, which are actually wide conveyor belts which operate at floor level and move at a speed of close to 1 metre per second.
• King Khalid International Airport handled 13,919,000 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 166 miles (266 kilometers) WSW of RUH.

Facts about Birmingham Airport (BHX):

• The closest airport to Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Coventry Airport (CVT), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) ESE of BHX.
• Birmingham Airport handled 9,120,201 passengers last year.
• Building a new control tower for the airport began in July 2011, to replace the old tower which has stood at the airport since it was opened in 1939.
• In January 2011, the airport merged its two terminals into a Single Terminal Building.
• Birmingham Airport is served by Birmingham International station.
• The furthest airport from Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Birmingham Airport (BHX) currently has only 1 runway.
• As part of the proposed High Speed Two rail link, a new railway station called Birmingham Interchange would be built to serve both the airport and the National Exhibition Centre.
• Because of Birmingham Airport's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Birmingham 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.
• It's also been estimated that if these plans were to go ahead, the airport could handle around 70,000,000 passengers annually, and around 500,000 aircraft movements.
• In September 2010 an announcement was made that following the merging of Terminals 1 & 2 in 2011, the airport would drop the International from its official name to become Birmingham Airport.