Nonstop flight route between Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BWU to FFD:
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- About this route
- BWU Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about BWU
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to BWU
- List of Nearest Airports to BWU
- Map of Furthest Airports from BWU
- List of Furthest Airports from BWU
- 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 Bankstown Airport (BWU), Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,610 miles (or 17,075 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 Bankstown 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 Bankstown 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: | BWU / YSBK |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°55'29"S by 150°59'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | Bankstown Airport Ltd. |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 34 feet (10 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from BWU |
More Information: | BWU 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 Bankstown Airport (BWU):
- On 15 September 1982, a Douglas C-47, stored in the open, was damaged when the pilot of a light aircraft committed suicide by deliberately crashing it nearby.
- The airport and the neighbouring Georges River Golf Course together form a suburb which is usually referred to as Bankstown Airport, although the official name is Bankstown Aerodrome.
- When General MacArthur arrived in Australia, during World War II, Bankstown Airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces, and was established as a key strategic air base to support the war effort in 1942.
- In addition to being known as "Bankstown Airport", another name for BWU is "Sydney/Bankstown Airport".
- One of its hangars is being used for the filming of Top Gear Australia, however none of the track sections were filmed at Bankstown as it is too busy.
- On 26 September 2011, a Cessna 152 registered VH-HCE and operated by Basair Pty Ltd experienced total power loss due to fuel contamination with water.
- The airport offers a range of aviation and non-aviation settings with large hangars to accommodate grand scale indoor filming.
- Runway 11C/29C has three stage, medium intensity edge lights and a Precision Approach Path Indicator or.
- Because of Bankstown Airport's relatively low elevation of 34 feet, planes can take off or land at Bankstown 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 furthest airport from Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Bankstown Airport (meaning Bankstown Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
- The closest airport to Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) E of BWU.
- Bankstown Airport (BWU) has 3 runways.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.