Nonstop flight route between Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Allen Army Airfield (BIG), Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,212 miles (or 6,778 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 Allen Army Airfield 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 Allen Army Airfield 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 Allen Army Airfield (BIG):

• Allen Army Airfield is a public and military use airport serving Fort Greely and located three miles south of the central business district of Delta Junction, a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area of the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Allen Army Airfield", another name for BIG is "(former Big Delta Army Airfield)".
• The closest airport to Allen Army Airfield (BIG) is Delta Junction Airport (DJN), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) N of BIG.
• Allen Army Airfield (BIG) has 3 runways.
• Allen Army Airfield resides at elevation of 1,291 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Allen Army Airfield (BIG) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,331 miles (16,625 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.