Nonstop flight route between Challis, Idaho, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Challis Airport (CHL), Challis, Idaho, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,669 miles (or 7,514 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 Challis 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 Challis 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 Challis Airport (CHL):

• Challis Airport (CHL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Challis Airport's high elevation of 5,072 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CHL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CHL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Challis Airport (CHL) is Lemhi County Airport (SMN), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) NNE of CHL.
• The furthest airport from Challis Airport (CHL) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 10,728 miles (17,265 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In addition to being known as "Challis Airport", another name for CHL is "LLJ".

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.