Nonstop flight route between Braga, Portugal and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Braga Airport (BGZ), Braga, Portugal and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 765 miles (or 1,231 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 relatively short distance between Braga Airport and RAF Fairford, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Braga Airport (BGZ):

• Because of Braga Airport's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Braga 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 closest airport to Braga Airport (BGZ) is Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of BGZ.
• In addition to being known as "Braga Airport", another name for BGZ is "Aeródromo Municipal de Braga".
• The furthest airport from Braga Airport (BGZ) is Westport Airport (WSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Braga Airport (meaning Braga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Westport Airport), and is located 12,426 miles (19,998 kilometers) away in Westport, New Zealand.
• Braga Airport (BGZ) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.