Nonstop flight route between St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Fakarava, Society Islands, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Fakarava Airport (FAV), Fakarava, Society Islands, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,041 miles (or 14,550 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 Leuchars and Fakarava 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 Leuchars and Fakarava 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 Leuchars (ADX):

• Very little information of a closure timeline is known.
• The next generation of jets to be stationed at Leuchars were the Hawker Hunter and the Gloster Javelin, with air-sea rescue services provided by Westland Whirlwind helicopters.
• The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.
• In 1954 the fixed wing aircraft had been joined by a flight of Bristol Sycamore helicopters for Search and Rescue duties.
• Like so many RAF stations, the airfield itself owes its existence to the stimulus of war, and work began on levelling the existing site on Reres Farm in 1916.
• Leuchars was home to the last squadron of Panavia Tornado F3s, No.
• During Second World War, British Overseas Airways Corporation formed in November 1939 from Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd operated a wartime route from RAF Leuchars to Stockholm.

Facts about Fakarava Airport (FAV):

• The furthest airport from Fakarava Airport (FAV) is Atbara Airport (ATB), which is nearly antipodal to Fakarava Airport (meaning Fakarava Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atbara Airport), and is located 12,321 miles (19,828 kilometers) away in Atbara, Sudan.
• The closest airport to Fakarava Airport (FAV) is Apataki Airport (APK), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) WNW of FAV.
• Because of Fakarava Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Fakarava 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.