Nonstop flight route between Shymkent, Kazakhstan and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shymkent International Airport (CIT), Shymkent, Kazakhstan and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,281 miles (or 5,280 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 Shymkent International 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 Shymkent International 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 Shymkent International Airport (CIT):

• Shymkent International Airport (CIT) has 3 runways.
• After a protocol signed in November 2012 by the governments of Kazakhstan and France, French forces withdrawing from Afghanistan received authorization to use Shymkent Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Shymkent International Airport", another name for CIT is "Халықаралық Шымкент Әуежайы".
• The furthest airport from Shymkent International Airport (CIT) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,385 miles (18,322 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Shymkent International Airport (CIT) is Tashkent International Airport (TAS), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) S of CIT.
• In 2004, the airport handled 97,000 passengers.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.