Nonstop flight route between Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GCN to FFD:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- GCN Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about GCN
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCN
- List of Nearest Airports to GCN
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCN
- List of Furthest Airports from GCN
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,070 miles (or 8,159 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 Grand Canyon National Park Airport and RAF Fairford, 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 Grand Canyon National Park Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCN / KGCN |
Airport Name: | Grand Canyon National Park Airport |
Location: | Tusayan, Arizona, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 35°57'7"N by 112°8'48"W |
Area Served: | Grand Canyon |
Operator/Owner: | State of Arizona |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 6609 feet (2,014 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GCN |
More Information: | GCN Maps & Info |
Arrival 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 |
Facts about Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):
- The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
- Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
- On August 16, 2009, Air Force One, carrying President Barack Obama landed at Grand Canyon Airport at about 10am local time, for a four hour visit of the Canyon by the President and his family.
- Air West, the predecessor airline to Hughes Airwest, also operated Douglas DC-9 jets from the airport in addition to flying services with Fairchild F-27 turboprops.
- The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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.
- 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 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.