Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Clara, Cuba:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU), Santa Clara, Cuba would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,512 miles (or 7,262 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 Abel Santamaría 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 Abel Santamaría 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):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle 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 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 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.

Facts about Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU):

• Because of Abel Santamaría Airport's relatively low elevation of 338 feet, planes can take off or land at Abel Santamaría 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 Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU) is Jaime González Airport (CFG), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) SW of SNU.
• The furthest airport from Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Abel Santamaría Airport", another name for SNU is "Aeropuerto "Abel Santamaría"".
• Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU) currently has only 1 runway.