Nonstop flight route between Southend, Essex (near London) United Kingdom and Houston, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between London Southend Airport (SEN), Southend, Essex (near London) United Kingdom and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,879 miles (or 7,852 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 London Southend Airport and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field, 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 London Southend Airport and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field. 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 London Southend Airport (SEN):

• Southend was voted the best airport in Britain by the consumer group Which?
• National Commuter Airways operated passenger services during the 1980s, to Brussels and Jersey from Southend.
• London Southend Airport (SEN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of London Southend Airport's relatively low elevation of 55 feet, planes can take off or land at London Southend 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 London Southend Airport (SEN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,885 miles (19,126 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• London Southend Airport handled 969,912 passengers last year.
• Heavy maintenance services and hangars for aircraft up to Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 size are available.
• Freddie Laker's Air Charter Limited operated flights from Southend from 1949.
• Southend Airport has an excellent weather record and is used by airlines as a diversion alternative when adverse weather or incidents close other London airports.
• The closest airport to London Southend Airport (SEN) is Rochester Airport (RCS), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of SEN.

Facts about Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD):

• The closest airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of EFD.
• The United States Air Force's 147th Reconnaissance Wing is an Air National Guard unit operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command.
• The furthest airport from Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,008 miles (17,716 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Ellington Field was also a site for the USAAC Bombardier School, also known as "the Bombardment Academy of the Air." At Ellington Field, officials planned to train 4,480 bombardier cadets per year.
• In May 1923, the War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Ellington Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus.
• During World War I, Ellington served as an advanced flight training base.
• During 1958–59, USAF navigator training training operations were consolidated at Mather AFB and James Connally AFB, followed by a second consolidation to Mather AFB as the sole training location in the early 1960s.
• In addition to being known as "Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field", another name for EFD is "Ellington Field JRB".