Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minami-Tori-shima, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minamitorishima Air Field (MUS), Minami-Tori-shima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,986 miles (or 11,242 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 Minamitorishima Air Field, 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 Minamitorishima Air Field. 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):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.

Facts about Minamitorishima Air Field (MUS):

• Because of Minamitorishima Air Field's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Minamitorishima Air Field 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.
• In addition to being known as "Minamitorishima Air Field", other names for MUS include "Minami Torishima Airport" and "Marcus Island Airport".
• Minamitorishima Air Field (MUS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Minamitorishima Air Field (MUS) is Vitória-Eurico de Aguiar Salles Airport (Goiabeiras) (VIX), which is located 11,484 miles (18,481 kilometers) away in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Minamitorishima Air Field (MUS) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 796 miles (1,281 kilometers) W of MUS.