Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Blytheville, Arkansas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Arkansas International Airport (BYH), Blytheville, Arkansas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,250 miles (or 6,840 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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas International 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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Arkansas International Airport (BYH):

• In 2008, Aviation Repair Technologies established its headquarters at the facility and opened repair facilities for aircraft heavy maintenance, short-term aircraft storage, and aircraft engine disassembly.
• Arkansas International Airport (BYH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Arkansas International Airport (BYH) is Blytheville Municipal Airport (HKA), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ESE of BYH.
• Because it was an Air Force base, it has room and facilities that are not available in many other complexes.
• The furthest airport from Arkansas International Airport (BYH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,015 miles (17,728 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The facility secured a lease with USA Floral, a major floral distributor based near Washington, D.C., that needed a southern locale for its regular flights to South America to import flowers.
• Because of Arkansas International Airport's relatively low elevation of 254 feet, planes can take off or land at Arkansas International 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 airport also accommodates deployment and pick-up of National Guard troops, as well as training grounds for military flight training maneuvers, primarily USAF C-130 training operations from Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas Air National Guard A-10 training operations from Fort Smith Air National Guard Station and Arkansas Army National Guard helicopter training operations from Camp Robinson.