Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and West Chicago, Illinois, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to DPA:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- DPA Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about DPA
- 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 DPA
- List of Nearest Airports to DPA
- Map of Furthest Airports from DPA
- List of Furthest Airports from DPA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and DuPage Airport (DPA), West Chicago, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,901 miles (or 6,278 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 DuPage 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 DuPage 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: | DPA / KDPA |
Airport Name: | DuPage Airport |
Location: | West Chicago, Illinois, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°54'24"N by 88°14'53"W |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 759 feet (231 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from DPA |
More Information: | DPA Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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 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.
- Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.
Facts about DuPage Airport (DPA):
- DuPage Airport (DPA) has 4 runways.
- The airport grew from 900 acres in 1985 to 2,800 acres by 1992, with the goal of maintaining control of all the property surrounding the runway complex.
- DuPage Airport is located on what used to be sheep-grazing land, but in 1927, two Chicago entrepreneurs purchased the land and began barnstorming, using the field as a grass strip.
- Because of DuPage Airport's relatively low elevation of 759 feet, planes can take off or land at DuPage 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 furthest airport from DuPage Airport (DPA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,056 miles (17,792 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- DuPage Airport sits on 1,200 acres and is the only general aviation airport in Illinois with four active runways, two ILS approaches, a 24-hour FAA air control tower, and over 40 aviation and non-aviation support businesses.
- The closest airport to DuPage Airport (DPA) is Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport (AUZ), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) SW of DPA.
- The airport has faced severe political criticism in the 1980s and 1990s.