Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and El Aaiún (Laayoune), Morocco:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN), El Aaiún (Laayoune), Morocco would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,796 miles (or 2,891 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 Hassan I Airport El Aaiún 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN):

• Because of Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport's relatively low elevation of 207 feet, planes can take off or land at Hassan I Airport El Aaiún 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.
• Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (meaning Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,288 miles (19,776 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport", other names for EUN include "Aeropuerto de El Aaiún" and "GMML/GSAI".
• Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport handled 108,057 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Hassan I Airport El Aaiún Airport (EUN) is Fuerteventura Airport (FUE), which is located 98 miles (158 kilometers) NNW of EUN.