Nonstop flight route between Phoenix, Arizona, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA), Phoenix, Arizona, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,199 miles (or 8,366 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 Phoenix–Mesa Gateway 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 Phoenix–Mesa Gateway 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 Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA):

• Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport", another name for AZA is "IWA".
• The furthest airport from Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,452 miles (18,429 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Now that the change of the Williams Gateway Airport name to Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport has occurred, the board approved resolution and ordinance does not change, diminish, give away, negate nor reduce any of the board of directors and their respective city, town or tribal government member voting authority and respective ownership.
• One of the biggest issues at IWA is the increase in passengers since Allegiant Air started operations.
• In recent years, the airport has again become a center of flight training.
• The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 called Phoenix–Mesa Gateway a reliever airport, which is a general aviation airport used to relieve congestion at a large airline airport.Allegiant Air began scheduled service from Mesa in October 2007.Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport records say the airport had 1,377,205 passenger boardings in calendar year 2012, a 44% increase over 2011.
• The closest airport to Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) is Falcon Field (MSC), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of AZA.
• In 1994, the Willams Gateway Airport Authority was established with a three member board with representation from the three cities immediately adjacent to Williams Field.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.