Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,840 miles (or 19,054 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 Chatham Islands, 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 Chatham Islands. 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.

Facts about Chatham Islands (CHT):

• In addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".
• The furthest airport from Chatham Islands (CHT) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is nearly antipodal to Chatham Islands (meaning Chatham Islands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Montpellier, France.
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.
• The airport was completed in 1982 to replace an earlier built compacted grass airstrip at Te Hapupu that could only handle slow flying Safe Air Bristol Freighter aircraft.
• Because of Chatham Islands's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Chatham Islands 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.
• In 2012 The New Zealand Government announced plans to develop the airport as part of an overall Economic Plan for the Chatham Islands.
• Air Chathams operate services to Auckland, to Christchurch, and to Wellington operating Convair 580 aircraft, on the following days.
• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is the base of Air Chathams and usually houses two aircraft overnight.