Nonstop flight route between Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from CPS to FFD:
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- About this route
- CPS Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about CPS
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to CPS
- List of Nearest Airports to CPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from CPS
- List of Furthest Airports from CPS
- 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 St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,132 miles (or 6,650 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 St. Louis Downtown 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 St. Louis Downtown 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: | CPS / KCPS |
Airport Name: | St. Louis Downtown Airport |
Location: | Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 38°34'14"N by 90°9'21"W |
Area Served: | Greater St. Louis |
Operator/Owner: | Bi-State Development Agency |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 413 feet (126 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from CPS |
More Information: | CPS 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 St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS):
- The airport closed in 1959 and reopened six years later as Bi-State Parks Airport.
- St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) has 3 runways.
- Because of St. Louis Downtown Airport's relatively low elevation of 413 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Louis Downtown 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 St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,998 miles (17,700 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The closest airport to St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) NW of CPS.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.