Nonstop flight route between Qingyang, Gansu, China and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qingyang Airport (IQN), Qingyang, Gansu, China and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,045 miles (or 8,120 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 Qingyang 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 Qingyang Airport and RAF Fairford. 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 Qingyang Airport (IQN):

• The closest airport to Qingyang Airport (IQN) is Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) SE of IQN.
• The furthest airport from Qingyang Airport (IQN) is General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport (YAI), which is nearly antipodal to Qingyang Airport (meaning Qingyang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport), and is located 12,379 miles (19,922 kilometers) away in Chillán, Ñuble, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Qingyang Airport", other names for IQN include "庆阳机场" and "Qìngyáng Jīchǎng".

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.