Nonstop flight route between Zhaotong, Yunnan, China and Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zhaotong Airport (ZAT), Zhaotong, Yunnan, China and RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,263 miles (or 8,470 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 Zhaotong Airport and RAF Mildenhall, 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 Zhaotong Airport and RAF Mildenhall. 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 Zhaotong Airport (ZAT):

• In addition to being known as "Zhaotong Airport", other names for ZAT include "昭通机场" and "Zhāotōng Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Zhaotong Airport (ZAT) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is nearly antipodal to Zhaotong Airport (meaning Zhaotong Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chañaral Airport), and is located 12,083 miles (19,445 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• The closest airport to Zhaotong Airport (ZAT) is Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ), which is located 95 miles (153 kilometers) E of ZAT.

Facts about RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The 488th Intelligence Squadron a component of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, formerly the Air Intelligence Agency.
• Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England.
• The 95th Reconnaissance Squadron conducts RC-135 Rivet Joint flight operations in the European and Mediterranean theatres of operations as tasked by National Command Authorities and European Command.
• Assigned from Strategic Air Command to United States Air Forces in Europe on 1 September 1959 and RAF relinquished joint operations status that date.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• RAF Mildenhall and its sister base RAF Lakenheath have the largest United States Air Force presence in the United Kingdom.
• The 95 RS supports RC-135, OC-135, and E-4 missions when theatre deployed.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The 727th Air Mobility Squadron is a unit of the 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, based at Ramstein AB, Germany.
• The present 488th Intelligence Squadron traces its lineage back to the 6954th Security Squadron which was originally designated Detachment 1 of the 6985th Security Squadron at RAF Upper Heyford, England, in June 1967.