Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Edinburgh, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 302 miles (or 486 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Edinburgh Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.

Facts about Edinburgh Airport (EDI):

• Because of Edinburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 136 feet, planes can take off or land at Edinburgh 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 present terminal building, designed by Sir Robert Matthew, was constructed in 1977 and has been upgraded in recent years, with new car parking facilities and an extended arrivals hall.
• The closest airport to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Perth Airport (PSL), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) N of EDI.
• The only international services from Edinburgh during the 1980s were to Amsterdam and Dublin, but in the following years links were opened to destinations in France and Germany.
• In 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership transferred to the Ministry of Defence.
• Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport reached a record level in 2013 with nearly 9.8 million passengers and over 111,000 aircraft movements.
• As a cheaper alternative to the cancelled Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project, an additional interchange station is currently being constructed on the Fife Circle Line.
• In 2005, a new 57 m tall air traffic control tower was completed at a cost of £10m.
• The likelihood of an additional runway has been thrown into doubt following a revised masterplan in January 2011, with passenger numbers expected to be lower than previously thought - 12.3 million by 2020 and 20 million by 2040.
• Edinburgh Airport handled 9,775,443 passengers last year.
• Edinburgh Airport (EDI) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,713 miles (18,850 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.