Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FAI to CWL:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FAI Airport Information
- CWL Airport Information
- Facts about FAI
- Facts about CWL
- Map of Nearest Airports to FAI
- List of Nearest Airports to FAI
- Map of Furthest Airports from FAI
- List of Furthest Airports from FAI
- Map of Nearest Airports to CWL
- List of Nearest Airports to CWL
- Map of Furthest Airports from CWL
- List of Furthest Airports from CWL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,187 miles (or 6,738 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 Fairbanks International Airport and Cardiff 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 Fairbanks International Airport and Cardiff Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FAI / PAFA |
Airport Name: | Fairbanks International Airport |
Location: | Fairbanks, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 64°48'53"N by 147°51'23"W |
Area Served: | Fairbanks, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 434 feet (132 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from FAI |
More Information: | FAI Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CWL / EGFF |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°23'48"N by 3°20'35"W |
Area Served: | Cardiff South Wales Mid Wales West Wales |
Operator/Owner: | Welsh Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 220 feet (67 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from CWL |
More Information: | CWL Maps & Info |
Facts about Fairbanks International Airport (FAI):
- Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) has 4 runways.
- The airport opened in 1951 and took over existing scheduled airline traffic to Fairbanks, which had previously used Ladd Air Force Base.Alaska Airlines used Fairbanks as its main hub in the 1950s, with service to Seattle and Portland as well as intrastate service to Anchorage, Nome and other destinations.
- The closest airport to Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of FAI.
- Fairbanks International Airport covers an area of 3,470 acres at an elevation of 439 feet above mean sea level.
- The furthest airport from Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,289 miles (16,558 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Because of Fairbanks International Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Fairbanks 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.
Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):
- In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
- Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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.
- Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
- In April 1995, due to planned Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the Airport Company was privatised, with shares being sold to property and development firm, TBI plc, which has now been converted back to a private company called TBI Ltd and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport.
- However, it emerged that the Airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.
- On 16 May 2012, it was announced that airport Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, had left his position amid mounting pressure from the Welsh Government on the airport owners Abertis to improve the state of the airport and improve the services it offers, or sell the facility to an investor in a proposed public-private partnership.
- The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.
- In 2007 a new airline was mooted as a new home carrier at the airport.
- On 29 May 2012 it was announced that Jones would personally chair a "Task Force" on Cardiff Airport with the aim of "maximising its economic impact, commercially and for Wales".
- The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
- The history of the airport extends back to the early 1940s, when the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force Spitfire pilots.
- The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.