Nonstop flight route between Yichang, Hubei, China and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH), Yichang, Hubei, China and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,427 miles (or 8,735 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 Yichang Sanxia Airport and RAF Northolt, 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 Yichang Sanxia Airport and RAF Northolt. 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 Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH):

• The closest airport to Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH) is Shashi Airport (SHS), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) ESE of YIH.
• Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Yichang Sanxia Airport", other names for YIH include "宜昌三峡机场" and "Yíchāng Sānxiá Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH) is Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport (UAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Yichang Sanxia Airport (meaning Yichang Sanxia Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in San Juan Province, Argentina.

Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):

• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
• Following Louis Blériot's first flight across the English Channel in 1909, the British Army considered the necessity of defending the United Kingdom from a future air attack.
• In December 1946, after taking off during a heavy snowstorm, a Douglas DC-3 operated by British European Airways, flying from Northolt to Glasgow, crashed onto the roof of a house in South Ruislip.
• In August 1996, a Spanish Learjet operated by Mar Aviation overshot runway 25 and collided with a van heading eastward on the A40 Western Avenue.
• In April 2013, the Ministry of Defence announced a proposal to increase the number of private flights from 7,000 to 12,000 per year as part of plans to increase the income generated by the airfield.