Nonstop flight route between Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL), Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,617 miles (or 7,430 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 Shawnee Regional 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 Shawnee Regional 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 Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL):

• In 2011 the airport opened a new terminal building.
• The furthest airport from Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,825 miles (17,421 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Shawnee Regional Airport is a city owned airport two miles northwest of Shawnee, in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.
• The closest airport to Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL) is Tinker Air Force Base (TIK), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) W of SNL.
• Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL) 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.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• 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.