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):

• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.

Facts about Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI):

• 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.
• Barter Island LRRS Airport (BTI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The original runway was built by the United States military in 1947.
• In addition to being known as "Barter Island LRRS Airport", another name for BTI is "Barter Island LRRS BAR-MAIN".
• Each of the sites was staffed by civilian contract workers who had signed 18-month contracts, although they were visited by Air Force military personnel frequently.
• 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.