Nonstop flight route between Ko Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Samui International Airport (USM), Ko Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,173 miles (or 9,934 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 Samui International Airport and RAF Benson, 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 Samui International Airport and RAF Benson. 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 Samui International Airport (USM):

• The closest airport to Samui International Airport (USM) is Surat Thani International Airport (URT), which is located 69 miles (112 kilometers) WSW of USM.
• In addition to being known as "Samui International Airport", another name for USM is "ท่าอากาศยานสมุย".
• The furthest airport from Samui International Airport (USM) is Teniente FAP Jaime Montreuil Morales Airport (CHM), which is nearly antipodal to Samui International Airport (meaning Samui International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Teniente FAP Jaime Montreuil Morales Airport), and is located 12,337 miles (19,854 kilometers) away in Chimbote, Ancash Region, Peru.
• Because of Samui International Airport's relatively low elevation of 64 feet, planes can take off or land at Samui International 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.
• Samui International Airport (USM) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• The station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.