Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Attu Island, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), Attu Island, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,210 miles (or 8,384 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 Casco Cove Coast Guard Station, 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 Casco Cove Coast Guard Station. 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):

• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.

Facts about Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU):

• In addition to being known as "Casco Cove Coast Guard Station", other names for ATU include "LORAN Station Attu" and "(former Naval Air Facility Attu)".
• The island is protected as part of the National Parks Trust territory and few people visit the island or area, as it is restricted.
• Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,631 miles (17,109 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Casco Cove Coast Guard Station is a military facility and private use airfield on Attu Island, one of the Aleutian Islands in the U.S.
• Casco Cove CGS resides at elevation of 88 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU) is Eareckson Air Station (SYA), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) ESE of ATU.
• Because of Casco Cove Coast Guard Station's relatively low elevation of 88 feet, planes can take off or land at Casco Cove Coast Guard Station 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.