Nonstop flight route between Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN), Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,836 miles (or 9,392 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 Bloemfontein International 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 Bloemfontein International 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 Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN):

• Because of Bloemfontein International Airport's high elevation of 4,457 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BFN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BFN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) has 2 runways.
• In November 2012, the South African government announced that the airport's name was to be changed to Bram Fischer International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,855 miles (19,079 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Mafeteng Airport (MFC), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) SE of BFN.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.