Nonstop flight route between Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) (SFJ), Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,971 miles (or 3,172 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 Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) 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 Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) (SFJ):

• In addition to being known as "Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ)", other names for SFJ include "Mittarfik Kangerlussuaq" and "Kangerlussuaq Lufthavn".
• At a late 2011 Air Greenland meeting, plans to move the main Greenland intercontinental air hub away from Kangerlussuaq were agreed upon.
• Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) (SFJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) (SFJ) is Sisimiut Airport (JHS), which is located 82 miles (132 kilometers) W of SFJ.
• The airport was handed over to civilian Greenlandic control in 1992.
• Kangerlussuaq Airport is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland.
• The furthest airport from Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) (SFJ) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 10,633 miles (17,112 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) handled 133,381 passengers last year.
• Because of Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ)'s relatively low elevation of 165 feet, planes can take off or land at Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) 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.
• An airport was first built here by the US military in 1941, under the name Bluie West-8, later renamed Sondrestromfjord Air Base and Sondrestrom Air Base.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.