Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Abilene, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to ABI:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- ABI Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about ABI
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to ABI
- List of Nearest Airports to ABI
- Map of Furthest Airports from ABI
- List of Furthest Airports from ABI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,808 miles (or 7,738 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 RAF Fairford and Abilene Regional Airport, 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 RAF Fairford and Abilene Regional Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ABI / KABI |
Airport Name: | Abilene Regional Airport |
Location: | Abilene, Texas, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°24'47"N by 99°40'59"W |
Area Served: | Abilene, Texas |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1791 feet (546 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from ABI |
More Information: | ABI Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
- Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
Facts about Abilene Regional Airport (ABI):
- The furthest airport from Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,072 miles (17,819 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Abilene Regional Airport is a public airport three miles southeast of Abilene, in Taylor County, Texas.
- Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) has 3 runways.
- Most operations at the airport are general aviation and military training.
- Trans-Texas Airways flew turboprops from Amarillo and Lubbock as well as DC-9 jets to Dallas Love Field and then DFW.
- The closest airport to Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) W of ABI.
- A GDS search indicated that Delta Air Lines would begin service to/from Atlanta in April 2014, but Abilene Airport officials stated on their Twitter account that there would be no such service.