Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FFD to BUQ:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- BUQ Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about BUQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to BUQ
- List of Nearest Airports to BUQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from BUQ
- List of Furthest Airports from BUQ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,284 miles (or 8,504 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BUQ / FVBU |
Airport Name: | Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport |
Location: | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 20°1'2"S by 28°37'4"E |
Operator/Owner: | Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4359 feet (1,329 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from BUQ |
More Information: | BUQ Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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.
- RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
Facts about Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ):
- Because of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport's high elevation of 4,359 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BUQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BUQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (meaning Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,198 miles (19,630 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) ENE of BUQ.
- Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) has 2 runways.