Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Zhengzhou, Henan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO), Zhengzhou, Henan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,326 miles (or 8,571 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 Zhengzhou Xinzheng 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 Zhengzhou Xinzheng 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO):

• In addition to being known as "Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport", other names for CGO include "郑州新郑国际机场" and "Zhèngzhōu Xīnzhèng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport handled 10,150,075 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) is Brigadier Mayor Cesar Raúl Ojeda Airport (LUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (meaning Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Brigadier Mayor Cesar Raúl Ojeda Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,876 kilometers) away in San Luis, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) is Luoyang Beijiao Airport (LYA), which is located 84 miles (135 kilometers) W of CGO.
• Because of Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport's relatively low elevation of 495 feet, planes can take off or land at Zhengzhou Xinzheng 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.
• Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) currently has only 1 runway.
• There are domestic and regional flights from the airport to most major cities in the People's Republic of China, international cargo flights as well as charter flights to Thailand during the travel season.