Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to JNB:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- JNB Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about JNB
- 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 JNB
- List of Nearest Airports to JNB
- Map of Furthest Airports from JNB
- List of Furthest Airports from JNB
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,677 miles (or 9,137 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 O. R. Tambo 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 O. R. Tambo 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: | JNB / FAOR |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 26°8'21"S by 28°14'45"E |
Area Served: | Johannesburg, South Africa Pretoria, South Africa |
Operator/Owner: | Airports Company South Africa |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5558 feet (1,694 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from JNB |
More Information: | JNB 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.
- 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 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.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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 O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB):
- Because of O. R. Tambo International Airport's high elevation of 5,558 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JNB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JNB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) has 2 runways.
- A second terminal between the two runways has also been mooted, which is proposed for completion by 2012.
- O. R. Tambo International Airport handled 18,794,897 passengers last year.
- Critics noted the considerable expense involved in renaming the airport, and the decision to use a politician as the name would be obscure, confusing and in some instances, offensive.
- The furthest airport from O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,979 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
- During busy periods, outbound flights use the western runway for take-off, while inbound flights use the eastern runway for landing.
- The airport overtook Cairo International Airport in 1996 as the busiest airport in Africa and is the third-busiest airport in the Africa–Middle East region after Dubai International Airport and Doha International Airport.
- The closest airport to O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Rand Airport (QRA), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SW of JNB.
- In addition to being known as "O. R. Tambo International Airport", another name for JNB is "Johannesburg International Airport".