Nonstop flight route between Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Baghdad, Iraq:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Baghdad International Airport (SDA), Baghdad, Iraq would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,603 miles (or 4,189 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 RAF Brize Norton and Baghdad International Airport, 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 RAF Brize Norton and Baghdad International Airport. 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 RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British policy in the Middle East.
• The Hercules fleet at RAF Lyneham officially moved to Brize Norton on 1 July 2011.
• By the 1950s Cold War tension was escalating and the United States envisaged stationing nuclear bombers in the United Kingdom as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
• By March 2011, 70 buildings had been refurbished on the station.
• By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• With the closure of RAF Lyneham taking place in late 2011, the repatriation of British personnel was relocated to Brize Norton on 8 September 2011.

Facts about Baghdad International Airport (SDA):

• The closest airport to Baghdad International Airport (SDA) is Baghdad International Airport (BGW), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of SDA.
• Baghdad International Airport, is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about 16 km west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate.
• Most of Baghdad's civil flights stopped in 1991, when the United Nations imposed restrictions on Iraq after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War.
• Baghdad International Airport (SDA) has 2 runways.
• On 18 May 2010, plans were unveiled for an expansion of Baghdad International Airport, which will double its capacity to 15 million passengers per year.
• In addition to being known as "Baghdad International Airport", other names for SDA include "مطار بغداد الدولي", "Matar Baġdād ad-Dowaly" and "BGW".
• The furthest airport from Baghdad International Airport (SDA) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,732 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Because of Baghdad International Airport's relatively low elevation of 114 feet, planes can take off or land at Baghdad International 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.