Nonstop flight route between Beru, Kiribati and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beru Island Airport (BEZ), Beru, Kiribati and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,957 miles (or 14,415 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 Beru Island 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 Beru Island 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 Beru Island Airport (BEZ):

• The furthest airport from Beru Island Airport (BEZ) is Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ), which is nearly antipodal to Beru Island Airport (meaning Beru Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport), and is located 12,167 miles (19,581 kilometers) away in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
• The closest airport to Beru Island Airport (BEZ) is Arorae Island Airport (AIS), which is located 103 miles (166 kilometers) SSE of BEZ.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.