Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Guangzhou, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), Guangzhou, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,940 miles (or 9,560 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 Guangzhou Baiyun 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 Guangzhou Baiyun 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.

Facts about Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN):

• On December 17, 2008, the hub completed its first flight operations test.
• Because of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Guangzhou Baiyun 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 hub has its own ramp control tower, a first for an international air express cargo company facility in China, which enables FedEx to control aircraft movements on the ground, aircraft parking plans as well as loading and unloading priorities.
• In addition to being known as "Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport", other names for CAN include "广州白云国际机场" and "Guǎngzhōu Báiyún Guójì Jīchǎng".
• The airport is located in Guangzhou's Baiyun District and Huadu District and opened on August 5, 2004 as a replacement for the 72-year-old, identically named old airport, which is now closed.
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) is Gobernador Horacio Guzmán Internacional Airport (JUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (meaning Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Horacio Guzmán Internacional Airport), and is located 12,314 miles (19,818 kilometers) away in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina.
• On July 13, 2005, FedEx Express signed a contract with the airport authority to relocate its Asia-Pacific hub from Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines to Baiyun airport.
• The closest airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) is Foshan Shadi Airport (FUO), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of CAN.