Nonstop flight route between Qaisumah, Hafar Al-Batin, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qaisumah Domestic Airport (AQI), Qaisumah, Hafar Al-Batin, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,931 miles (or 4,718 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 Qaisumah Domestic 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 Qaisumah Domestic 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 Qaisumah Domestic Airport (AQI):

• The closest airport to Qaisumah Domestic Airport (AQI) is Kuwait International Airport (KWI), which is located 128 miles (206 kilometers) ENE of AQI.
• The airport began in 1962 as a dusty runway for a Dakota aircraft which was used at that time for transporting Saudi Aramco employees between stations in the northern region.
• Qaisumah Domestic Airport (AQI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Qaisumah Domestic Airport", another name for AQI is "مطار القيصومة المحلي".
• The furthest airport from Qaisumah Domestic Airport (AQI) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to Qaisumah Domestic Airport (meaning Qaisumah Domestic Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,069 miles (19,423 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.