Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to GUF:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- GUF Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about GUF
- 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 GUF
- List of Nearest Airports to GUF
- Map of Furthest Airports from GUF
- List of Furthest Airports from GUF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Jack Edwards Airport (GUF), Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,440 miles (or 7,146 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 Jack Edwards 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 Jack Edwards 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: | GUF / KJKA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°17'22"N by 87°40'18"W |
Area Served: | Gulf Shores, Alabama |
Operator/Owner: | Gulf Shores Airport Authority |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 17 feet (5 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GUF |
More Information: | GUF Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- 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.
Facts about Jack Edwards Airport (GUF):
- Jack Edwards Airport (GUF) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Jack Edwards Airport (GUF) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,153 miles (17,950 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- Jack Edwards Airport was originally an outlying field for Naval Air Station Pensacola.
- Because of Jack Edwards Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Jack Edwards 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 Jack Edwards Airport (GUF) is NOLF Barin (NHX), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NNE of GUF.
- In addition to being known as "Jack Edwards Airport", another name for GUF is "JKA".