Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Butte, Montana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Bert Mooney Airport (BTM), Butte, Montana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,539 miles (or 7,305 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 Bert Mooney 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 Bert Mooney 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):

• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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 Bert Mooney Airport (BTM):

• Because of Bert Mooney Airport's high elevation of 5,550 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BTM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BTM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,611 miles (17,077 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) is Dillon Airport (DLN), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) S of BTM.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service facility.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 30,431 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 25,178 in 2009 and 25,433 in 2010.
• Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) has 2 runways.