Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Xieng Khouang, Laos:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to XKH:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- XKH Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about XKH
- 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 XKH
- List of Nearest Airports to XKH
- Map of Furthest Airports from XKH
- List of Furthest Airports from XKH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH), Xieng Khouang, Laos would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,781 miles (or 9,304 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 Xieng Khouang 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 Xieng Khouang 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: | XKH / VLXK |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Xieng Khouang, Laos |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°26'24"N by 103°10'6"E |
Operator/Owner: | Civil Government |
View all routes: | Routes from XKH |
More Information: | XKH 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.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
- 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
- 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
Facts about Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH):
- In addition to being known as "Xieng Khouang Airport", another name for XKH is "ສະຫນາມບິນຊຽງຂວາງ".
- The furthest airport from Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH) is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport (NZC), which is nearly antipodal to Xieng Khouang Airport (meaning Xieng Khouang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Nazca, Ica Region, Peru.
- The closest airport to Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH) is Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), which is located 73 miles (117 kilometers) WNW of XKH.