Nonstop flight route between Chengdu, Sichuan, China and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), Chengdu, Sichuan, China and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,200 miles (or 8,369 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 Chengdu Shuangliu 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 Chengdu Shuangliu 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 Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU):

• The furthest airport from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is nearly antipodal to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (meaning Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Florida Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• The airport, formerly named Shuangguisi Airport, opened in capacity as an auxiliary military airfield in 1938 during the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
• The closest airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) NE of CTU.
• In addition to being known as "Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport", other names for CTU include "成都双流国际机场" and "Chéngdū Shuāngliú Guójì Jīchǎng".
• The Transporting system
• During World War II, the airport was known as Shwangliu Airfield and was later used by the United States Army Air Forces Fourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign.
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 31,500,000 passengers last year.
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) has 2 runways.
• In 2013 United Airlines announced it would start a thrice-weekly flight from San Francisco to Chengdu, operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.