Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sochi, Krasnodar, Russia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER), Sochi, Krasnodar, Russia would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,997 miles (or 3,214 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 RAF Fairford and Sochi International Airport, Russia, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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 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.

Facts about Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER):

• Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER) has 2 runways.
• The Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia at the meeting on 29 August 2006, registered the issue and reported on the results of the issue ordinary shares of OJSC "International airport of Sochi on the total amount of 1,142,035,400 roubles.
• Sochi International Airport is an airport located in Adler District of the resort city of Sochi, on the coast of the Black Sea in the federal subject of Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
• In addition to being known as "Sochi International Airport, Russia", another name for AER is "Международный Аэропорт Сочи".
• Because of Sochi International Airport, Russia's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Sochi International Airport, Russia 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.
• The furthest airport from Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 10,999 miles (17,701 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• On 20 November 2006, the airport was auctioned to Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element group for 5.5 billion roubles.
• The closest airport to Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER) is Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) SE of AER.