Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Christmas Island, Kiribati:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to CXI:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- CXI Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about CXI
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to CXI
- List of Nearest Airports to CXI
- Map of Furthest Airports from CXI
- List of Furthest Airports from CXI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Cassidy International Airport (CXI), Christmas Island, Kiribati would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,462 miles (or 13,619 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 Cassidy 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 Cassidy International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CXI / PLCH |
Airport Name: | Cassidy International Airport |
Location: | Christmas Island, Kiribati |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°59'9"N by 157°20'58"W |
Area Served: | Kiritimati |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from CXI |
More Information: | CXI Maps & Info |
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.
- 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
Facts about Cassidy International Airport (CXI):
- Cassidy International Airport (CXI) currently has only 1 runway.
- The airport is at an elevation of 5ft above mean sea level.
- Because of Cassidy International Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Cassidy 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 closest airport to Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Manihiki Island Airport (MHX), which is located 891 miles (1,433 kilometers) SSW of CXI.
- The furthest airport from Cassidy International Airport (CXI) is Ikela Airport (IKL), which is nearly antipodal to Cassidy International Airport (meaning Cassidy International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ikela Airport), and is located 12,367 miles (19,903 kilometers) away in Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo.