Nonstop flight route between Frieda River, Papua New Guinea and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frieda River Airport (FAQ), Frieda River, Papua New Guinea and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,578 miles (or 13,805 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 Frieda River 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 Frieda River 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 Frieda River Airport (FAQ):

• In addition to being known as "Frieda River Airport", another name for FAQ is "Frieda River".
• Because of Frieda River Airport's relatively low elevation of 200 feet, planes can take off or land at Frieda River 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.
• Frieda River Airport (FAQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Frieda River Airport (FAQ) is Biangabip Airport (BPK), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) SSW of FAQ.
• The furthest airport from Frieda River Airport (FAQ) is Parnaíba–Prefeito Dr. João Silva Filho International Airport (PHB), which is located 11,859 miles (19,086 kilometers) away in Parnaiba, Piaui, Brazil.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• 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 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.
• 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.