Nonstop flight route between Brookings, South Dakota, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Brookings Regional Airport (BKX), Brookings, South Dakota, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,104 miles (or 6,604 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 Brookings Regional 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 Brookings Regional 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 Brookings Regional Airport (BKX):

• Brookings Regional Airport (BKX) has 2 runways.
• Brookings Regional Airport covers an area of 576 acres at an elevation of 1,648 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Brookings Regional Airport (BKX) is Madison Municipal Airport (XMD), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SW of BKX.
• The furthest airport from Brookings Regional Airport (BKX) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,597 miles (17,053 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.