Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Charters Towers Airport (CXT), Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,656 miles (or 15,539 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 Charters Towers 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 Charters Towers 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):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Charters Towers Airport (CXT):

• Charters Towers Airport (CXT) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Charters Towers Airport (CXT) is Townsville Airport (TSV), which is located 63 miles (102 kilometers) NNE of CXT.
• In addition, 370th Service Squadron managed the day to day USAAF Base operations of the airfield.
• Because of Charters Towers Airport's relatively low elevation of 955 feet, planes can take off or land at Charters Towers 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 furthest airport from Charters Towers Airport (CXT) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,838 miles (19,052 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.