Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Goroka, Papua New Guinea:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to GKA:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- GKA Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about GKA
- 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 GKA
- List of Nearest Airports to GKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GKA
- List of Furthest Airports from GKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Goroka Airport (GKA), Goroka, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,772 miles (or 14,117 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 Goroka 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 Goroka 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: | GKA / AYGA |
Airport Name: | Goroka Airport |
Location: | Goroka, Papua New Guinea |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°4'54"S by 145°23'30"E |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5282 feet (1,610 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GKA |
More Information: | GKA Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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 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.
- 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
Facts about Goroka Airport (GKA):
- The furthest airport from Goroka Airport (GKA) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,734 miles (18,884 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
- The closest airport to Goroka Airport (GKA) is Chimbu Airport (CMU), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) W of GKA.
- Because of Goroka Airport's high elevation of 5,282 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GKA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GKA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Goroka Airport (GKA) has 2 runways.