Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Romulus (near Detroit), Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Romulus (near Detroit), Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,698 miles (or 5,951 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County 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):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW):

• The closest airport to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) is Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DTW.
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) has 6 runways.
• Aerial photographs of DTW from 1949 and 1956 show the airport's expansion.
• The furthest airport from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,285 miles (18,161 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The A concourse contains 64 gates with 12 gates used for international departures and arrivals processing.
• On January 29, 2010, the North Terminal was named winner of the "Build Michigan" award project.
• The Smith Terminal's thirty-two gates originally housed Northwest Orient Airlines, Allegheny Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and Pan-Am, among others.
• Because of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport's relatively low elevation of 645 feet, planes can take off or land at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County 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.