Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Yonago, Tottori, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ), Yonago, Tottori, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,828 miles (or 9,380 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 Miho-Yonago 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 Miho-Yonago 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):

• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.

Facts about Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ):

• Because of Miho-Yonago Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Miho-Yonago 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 furthest airport from Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Miho-Yonago Airport (meaning Miho-Yonago Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,047 miles (19,388 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The Japan Air Self-Defense Force has operated a number of transport aircraft from Miho Air Base including Curtiss C-46 Commando, NAMC YS-11s, Kawasaki C-1s and T-400s.
• Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Miho-Yonago Airport", another name for YGJ is "美保飛行場".
• The Japan Coast Guard established a base at Miho in 1978 and has operated Bell 212, Bell 412 and AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters and Bombardier DHC-8 fixed-wing aircraft there.
• The closest airport to Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) is Izumo Airport (IZO), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) WSW of YGJ.
• Skymark Airlines began service from Yonago to Narita and Kobe in December 2013, and has announced that it will begin service from Yonago to Haneda, Sapporo and Okinawa beginning in April 2014.