Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,566 miles (or 5,739 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 Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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 Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.

Facts about Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI):

• Because of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's relatively low elevation of 146 feet, planes can take off or land at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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 Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is Tipton Airport (FME), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SW of BWI.
• BWI was ranked one of the "Top 10 Easiest U.S.
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) has 4 runways.
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport handled 22,391,785 passengers last year.
• The airport's cargo concourse covers a 395,000 sq ft area.
• The State of Maryland, through the Maryland Department of Transportation, purchased Friendship International Airport from the City of Baltimore for $36 million in 1972.
• BWI is a focus city for Southwest Airlines, and is the busiest airport in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area.
• The furthest airport from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,691 miles (18,814 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has five concourses, though Concourses A and B were essentially merged into a single concourse in the renovations completed in 2005.