Nonstop flight route between Skien, Telemark, Norway and Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Skien Airport, Geiteryggen (SKE), Skien, Telemark, Norway and RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 582 miles (or 937 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 Skien Airport, Geiteryggen and RAF Honington USAAF Station 375, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Skien Airport, Geiteryggen (SKE):

• Because of Skien Airport, Geiteryggen's relatively low elevation of 463 feet, planes can take off or land at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen 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.
• Skien Airport, Geiteryggen handled 46,995 passengers last year.
• The airport has a catchment area covering Grenland and surrounding parts of southern Telemark and eastern parts of Aust-Agder, with a total population of 140,000.
• The municipal council voted on 19 June 2008 to not give further subsidies to the airport.
• The furthest airport from Skien Airport, Geiteryggen (SKE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,344 miles (18,257 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The runway and original facilities at Geiteryggen were built by the aviation club and cost 30,000 Norwegian krone.
• The closest airport to Skien Airport, Geiteryggen (SKE) is Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) E of SKE.
• Discussions of expanding the runway had been carried out since the 1970s, but the issue had stranded as no-one was willing to finance the venture.
• Skien Airport had been taken over by Skien Municipality and was receiving annual subsidies of NOK 2.5 million from the municipality and NOK 3.8 million from the state.
• In addition to being known as "Skien Airport, Geiteryggen", another name for SKE is "Skien lufthavn, Geiteryggen".

Facts about RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• The closest airport to RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WNW of BEQ.
• The furthest airport from RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,834 miles (19,044 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• RAF Honington is also now home to 611 Volunteer Gliding Squadron due to the closure of RAF Watton in April 2012, requiring their conversion to the Grob 109B Vigilant motor glider.
• Converted from P-38 Lightnings to P-51 Mustangs in the summer of 1944 and from then until the end of the war flew many long-range escort missions heavy bombers that attacked oil refineries, industries, and other strategic objectives at Berlin, Regensburg, Merseburg, Stuttgart, Brussels, and elsewhere.
• In 1941, a Junkers Ju 88 was shot down by ground fire from Honington.
• With the departure of the USAAF in February 1946, Honington airfield was returned to the RAF.