Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Yamagata, Honshū, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Yamagata Airport (GAJ), Yamagata, Honshū, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,807 miles (or 9,345 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 Yamagata 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 Yamagata 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.

Facts about Yamagata Airport (GAJ):

• Yamagata Airport (GAJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Yamagata Airport (GAJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,606 miles (18,679 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Yamagata Airport (GAJ) is Sendai Airport (SDJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of GAJ.
• During the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, American troops used Yamagata Airport as a base for transporting fuel and materials to the disaster areas.
• The airport has had no scheduled ground transportation services since April 2009 due to depressed passenger numbers.
• In addition to being known as "Yamagata Airport", another name for GAJ is "山形空港".
• Because of Yamagata Airport's relatively low elevation of 345 feet, planes can take off or land at Yamagata 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.