Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Itami (near Osaka), Japan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to ITM:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- ITM Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about ITM
- 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 ITM
- List of Nearest Airports to ITM
- Map of Furthest Airports from ITM
- List of Furthest Airports from ITM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Osaka International Airport (ITM), Itami (near Osaka), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,926 miles (or 9,537 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 Osaka International 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 Osaka International 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: | ITM / RJOO |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Itami (near Osaka), Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°47'3"N by 135°26'21"E |
Area Served: | Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (airfield); Osaka International Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. (terminal) |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 39 feet (12 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from ITM |
More Information: | ITM Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Osaka International Airport (ITM):
- Because of the political friction surrounding Itami, planners began work in the 1970s to relocate many of its flights to an offshore location.
- Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka International 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 Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
- Osaka International Airport (ITM) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Osaka International Airport (OSA), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ITM.
- In addition to being known as "Osaka International Airport", other names for ITM include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港" and "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō".
- Both Hyogo Prefecture and Itami City are supporters of expanded service at Itami, and established a formal coordination body in July 2013 to propose further reforms such as allowing international charter flights, and to engage in local efforts such as improving ground transportation and publicizing the airport's convenience.
- Itami Airport opened as No.
- In its heyday Itami was served by a variety of major international carriers, including Pan Am, British Airways, Air India, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air.