Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Big Lake, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to BGQ:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- BGQ Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about BGQ
- 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 BGQ
- List of Nearest Airports to BGQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from BGQ
- List of Furthest Airports from BGQ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Big Lake Airport (BGQ), Big Lake, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,419 miles (or 7,111 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 Big Lake 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 Big Lake 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: | BGQ / PAGQ |
Airport Name: | Big Lake Airport |
Location: | Big Lake, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 61°32'9"N by 149°48'50"W |
Area Served: | Big Lake, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF - Central Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 158 feet (48 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BGQ |
More Information: | BGQ Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
- The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
- The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
- 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 Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
Facts about Big Lake Airport (BGQ):
- The furthest airport from Big Lake Airport (BGQ) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,522 miles (16,934 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Because of Big Lake Airport's relatively low elevation of 158 feet, planes can take off or land at Big Lake 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.
- The closest airport to Big Lake Airport (BGQ) is Wasilla Airport (WWA), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ENE of BGQ.
- Big Lake Airport (BGQ) currently has only 1 runway.