Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sugawa, Fukushima, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Fukushima Airport (FKS), Sugawa, Fukushima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,884 miles (or 9,469 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 Fukushima 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 Fukushima 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Fukushima Airport (FKS):

• Fukushima Airport (FKS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Fukushima Airport", other names for FKS include "福島空港" and "Fukushima Kūkō".
• The last episode of the TV drama Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World was filmed at Fukushima Airport in 2004.
• The closest airport to Fukushima Airport (FKS) is Utsunomiya Air Field (QUT), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) SSW of FKS.
• The airport remained operational during and following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, and temporarily saw increased domestic service during the closure of the Tōhoku Shinkansen high-speed rail line to Tokyo.
• The furthest airport from Fukushima Airport (FKS) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.