Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Alamosa, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS), Alamosa, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,772 miles (or 7,681 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 San Luis Valley Regional 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 San Luis Valley Regional 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.

Facts about San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS):

• The closest airport to San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) is Stevens Field (FAA: PSO) (PGO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) W of ALS.
• San Luis Valley Regional Airport is two miles south of Alamosa, in Alamosa County, Colorado.
• Because of San Luis Valley Regional Airport's high elevation of 7,539 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ALS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ALS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "San Luis Valley Regional Airport", another name for ALS is "Bergman Field".
• The furthest airport from San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,054 miles (17,790 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.