Nonstop flight route between Braintree, England, United Kingdom and Portland, Maine, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), Braintree, England, United Kingdom and Portland International Jetport (PWM), Portland, Maine, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,203 miles (or 5,155 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 MDPGA Wethersfield and Portland International Jetport, 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 MDPGA Wethersfield and Portland International Jetport. 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 MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF):

• During the late 1940s the base was used as a winter camping ground for Chipperfield's Circus.
• The 819th, along with the 2166th Communications Squadron, were the main units at Wethersfeld until the USAF returned the base to the British in 1990 due to budget cutbacks.
• In addition to being known as "MDPGA Wethersfield", another name for WXF is "RAF Wethersfield".
• The fighter squadrons of the 20th had been in constant rotation since the arrival of the wing at Wethersfield in 1952.
• The 20th began realigning its units 15 March 1957 as part of an Air Force worldwide reorganization.
• The furthest airport from MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,856 miles (19,080 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is London Stansted Airport (STN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of WXF.
• Because of MDPGA Wethersfield's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at MDPGA Wethersfield 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.
• MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) has 3 runways.
• In 1978 the British and American Governments agreed to establish a Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers unit in the UK.
• Formerly known as RAF Wethersfield, it opened in 1944.

Facts about Portland International Jetport (PWM):

• Jet flights began in 1968, and for the first time Portland got a nonstop beyond Boston when Northeast DC-9s flew to La Guardia.
• That year regional Air New England began service in Portland, competing with Northeast Airlines intrastate and between Portland and Boston.
• The closest airport to Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Naval Air Station Brunswick (NHZ), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NE of PWM.
• The furthest airport from Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On September 1, 2005 Delta Air Lines ended mainline service to PWM.
• Because of Portland International Jetport's relatively low elevation of 76 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland International Jetport 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.
• After Independence Air went bankrupt Portland had no low-cost carrier, causing fares to go up, and passenger numbers to decline.
• 1986 also brought US Airways, who began flights to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
• Portland International Jetport (PWM) has 2 runways.