Nonstop flight route between Beckley, West Virginia, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BKW to FFD:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- BKW Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about BKW
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKW
- List of Nearest Airports to BKW
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKW
- List of Furthest Airports from BKW
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), Beckley, West Virginia, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,811 miles (or 6,132 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 Raleigh County Memorial 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 Raleigh County Memorial Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BKW / KBKW |
| Airport Name: | Raleigh County Memorial Airport |
| Location: | Beckley, West Virginia, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°47'13"N by 81°7'27"W |
| Area Served: | Beckley, West Virginia |
| Operator/Owner: | Raleigh County Airport Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 2504 feet (763 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BKW |
| More Information: | BKW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Facts about Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW):
- Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) has 2 runways.
- In 2005, the airport was the least busy airport with scheduled airline service in the United States, with 2,578 passengers using the facility that year.
- The closest airport to Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Mercer County Airport (BLF), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) S of BKW.
- The furthest airport from Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,491 miles (18,494 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Raleigh County Memorial Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Beckley, a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- 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 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 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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 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.
