Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and El Monte, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport (EMT), El Monte, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,370 miles (or 8,642 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 San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) 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 San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) 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):

• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport (EMT):

• San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport (EMT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport (EMT) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,469 miles (18,458 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport (EMT) is Brackett Field (POC), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) E of EMT.
• Because of San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) Airport's relatively low elevation of 296 feet, planes can take off or land at San Gabriel Valley (El Monte) 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.