Nonstop flight route between Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB), Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,713 miles (or 5,975 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 Ann Arbor Municipal 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 Ann Arbor Municipal 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 Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB):

• The furthest airport from Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,266 miles (18,131 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Ann Arbor Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 839 feet, planes can take off or land at Ann Arbor Municipal 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.
• The grass runway intersects the paved runway, and is used during the summertime.
• The airport is entirely surrounded by Pittsfield Township, but the airport is owned and operated by the City of Ann Arbor, and the airport property is an exclave that is part of the City of Ann Arbor, having been annexed by the City of Ann Arbor before Pittsfield became a charter township in 1972.
• The current runaway "requires pilots to make a much steeper descent than recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration" and five planes have overrun the runway since 2000.
• Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB) is Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) E of ARB.
• The airport is a general aviation facility with mostly smaller corporate and private aircraft, with no scheduled passenger or cargo flights.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.