Nonstop flight route between Alpha, Queensland, Australia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alpha Airport (ABH), Alpha, Queensland, Australia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,878 miles (or 15,897 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 Alpha 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 Alpha 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 Alpha Airport (ABH):

• Alpha Airport (ABH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Alpha Airport (ABH) is Barcaldine Airport (BCI), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) W of ABH.
• The furthest airport from Alpha Airport (ABH) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,738 miles (18,890 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.