Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Oranjestad, Aruba:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA), Oranjestad, Aruba would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,614 miles (or 7,425 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 Queen Beatrix International 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 Queen Beatrix International 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA):

• Because of Queen Beatrix International Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Queen Beatrix 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 2011, the airport was voted fourth in a list of the world's top 10 airport approaches in a survey conducted by PrivateFly.com.
• The furthest airport from Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) is Christmas Island Airport (XCH), which is nearly antipodal to Queen Beatrix International Airport (meaning Queen Beatrix International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christmas Island Airport), and is located 12,113 miles (19,494 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Australia.
• The closest airport to Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) is Josefa Camejo International Airport (LSP), which is located 51 miles (81 kilometers) S of AUA.
• This airport used to serve as the hub for bankrupt airline Air Aruba, which was for many years an international airline.
• Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Queen Beatrix International Airport", another name for AUA is "Internationale luchthaven Koningin BeatrixAeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix".