Nonstop flight route between Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Fiumicino (near Rome), Italy and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 949 miles (or 1,528 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 relatively short distance between Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and RAF Fairford, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO):

• From the 1960s until the 1980s, the airport experienced significant aircraft hijackings as well as being the scene of two major terrorist attacks and the port of origin for an aircraft bombing in flight—some engendered by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• The closest airport to Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) E of FCO.
• Because of Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci 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.
• In addition to being known as "Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport", another name for FCO is "Fiumicino – Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci".
• In May 2006, Italy's Civil Aviation Authority announced that it took off the limitation of 3 ramp handlers in Rome Leonardo da Vinci airport.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport handled 36,166,345 passengers last year.
• Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) has 4 runways.
• Security Services transferred from the Polizia di Stato to Aeroporti di Roma in 2000.
• The furthest airport from Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,975 miles (19,272 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Since 2005 the airport operates a category III B instrument landing system.
• The terminals were upgraded during the 1990s and 2000s.
• Leonardo da Vinci is about 35 km by car from Rome's historic city centre.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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 was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.