Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gasmata Island, Papua New Guinea:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to GMI:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- GMI Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about GMI
- 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 GMI
- List of Nearest Airports to GMI
- Map of Furthest Airports from GMI
- List of Furthest Airports from GMI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gasmata Airport (GMI), Gasmata Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,919 miles (or 14,354 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 Gasmata 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 Gasmata 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: | GMI / AYGT |
Airport Name: | Gasmata Airport |
Location: | Gasmata Island, Papua New Guinea |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°16'30"S by 150°19'58"E |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GMI |
More Information: | GMI Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
Facts about Gasmata Airport (GMI):
- Gasmata Airport (GMI) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Gasmata Airport (GMI) is Kandrian Airport (KDR), which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) W of GMI.
- The furthest airport from Gasmata Airport (GMI) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,746 miles (18,903 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
- Because of Gasmata Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Gasmata 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.