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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI), Barter Island, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,806 miles (or 6,125 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 Barter Island LRRS 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 Barter Island LRRS 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 Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.

Facts about Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI):

• In addition to being known as "Barter Island LRRS Airport", another name for BTI is "Barter Island LRRS BAR-MAIN".
• The furthest airport from Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,003 miles (16,099 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Barter Island station controlled a sector of the Distant Early Warning Line.
• The airport remains open to support the small settlement at Kaktovik and to provide contractor support access to the military radar site.
• Because of Barter Island LRRS Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Barter Island LRRS 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.
• The closest airport to Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI) is Deadhorse Airport (SCC), which is located 115 miles (184 kilometers) W of BTI.
• The original runway was built by the United States military in 1947.