Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Hulhulé Island, Maldives:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE), Hulhulé Island, Maldives would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,364 miles (or 8,633 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 Ibrahim Nasir 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 Ibrahim Nasir International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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 Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE):

• In September 2010, GMR-MAHB consortium registered "GMR Malé International Airport Pvt.
• Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In late 2012, the government of Maldives declared that the concession agreement was void ab initio and on 27 November 2012 gave GMIAL a deadline of 7 days to evict the airport'.
• On 26 July 2011, Male' International Airport was officially renamed as 'Ibrahim Nasir International Airport' in memory of Ibrahim Nasir, 2nd President of the Maldives.
• In addition to being known as "Ibrahim Nasir International Airport", another name for MLE is "އިބްރާހިމް ނާސިރު ބައިނަލްއަޤުވާމީ ވައިގެބަނދަރު".
• The furthest airport from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,289 miles (18,168 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• On the midnight of 7 December, GMR Handed over the airport to the government of the Maldives and now it's being run by MACL.
• The closest airport to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE) is Villa International Airport (VAM), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) SW of MLE.
• The agreement signed between the Maldives government and GMR Group included the upgrading and renovation of the airport up to the standard of a global airport by the year 2014.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 6 feet above mean sea level.
• Because of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Ibrahim Nasir 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.