Nonstop flight route between Simla, Himachal Pradesh, India and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shimla Airport (SLV), Simla, Himachal Pradesh, India and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,003 miles (or 6,442 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 Shimla Airport and RAF Lakenheath, 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 Shimla Airport and RAF Lakenheath. 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 Shimla Airport (SLV):

• Because of Shimla Airport's high elevation of 5,072 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SLV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SLV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Shimla Airport", another name for SLV is "शिमला हवाई अड्डा".
• The closest airport to Shimla Airport (SLV) is Chandigarh Airport (IXC), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) SSW of SLV.
• The furthest airport from Shimla Airport (SLV) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,961 miles (19,249 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Shimla Airport (SLV) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• 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.