Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,179 miles (or 5,116 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 RAF Fairford and Al-Baha Domestic 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 RAF Fairford and Al-Baha Domestic Airport. 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 RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• 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 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.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT):

• In addition to being known as "Al-Baha Domestic Airport", another name for ABT is "مطار الباحة المحلي".
• Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Al-Baha Domestic Airport's high elevation of 5,486 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ABT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ABT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (meaning Al-Baha Domestic Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT) is Bisha Domestic Airport (BHH), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) ESE of ABT.