Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Belleville, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV), Belleville, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,121 miles (or 6,632 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 MidAmerica St. Louis 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 MidAmerica St. Louis 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 the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.

Facts about MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV):

• Between late 2009 and August 2010, one air cargo company, LAN Cargo, used the airport to import flowers from Bogota, Colombia, totaling one flight each week until the county abruptly ended the flights.
• In addition to being known as "MidAmerica St. Louis Airport", another name for BLV is "Scott Air Force Base".
• MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,016 miles (17,728 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport's relatively low elevation of 459 feet, planes can take off or land at MidAmerica St. Louis 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.
• Five MetroBus lines serve Scott Air Force Base via Shiloh–Scott station.
• The closest airport to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) is St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) W of BLV.
• MidAmerica has operated as a Joint Use Airport since beginning operations in November 1997 and is currently served by Allegiant Air with direct flights between MidAmerica St.
• Both Boeing Aerospace and Northbay Produce currently have facilities on site.