Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gaborone, Botswana:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to GBE:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- GBE Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about GBE
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to GBE
- List of Nearest Airports to GBE
- Map of Furthest Airports from GBE
- List of Furthest Airports from GBE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE), Gaborone, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,529 miles (or 8,898 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 Sir Seretse Khama International 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 Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GBE / FBSK |
| Airport Name: | Sir Seretse Khama International Airport |
| Location: | Gaborone, Botswana |
| GPS Coordinates: | 24°33'19"S by 25°55'5"E |
| Area Served: | Gaborone |
| Operator/Owner: | Civil Government |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 3299 feet (1,006 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GBE |
| More Information: | GBE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE):
- The government of Botswana has started a $61 million expansion plan to further develop the airport to accommodate increased traffic and larger planes.
- The furthest airport from Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (meaning Sir Seretse Khama International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
- Botswana Defence Force Air Wing VIP Flight Wing is based at the airport.
- The closest airport to Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) SSW of GBE.
- Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) currently has only 1 runway.
- Old interior of Khama Airport
