Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Galveston, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS), Galveston, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,784 miles (or 7,698 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 Scholes International Airport at Galveston, 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 Scholes International Airport at Galveston. 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):

• 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 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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 Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS):

• In addition to being known as "Scholes International Airport at Galveston", another name for GLS is "(former Galveston Army Air Field)".
• Because of Scholes International Airport at Galveston's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Scholes International Airport at Galveston 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.
• Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,038 miles (17,764 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• GLS is an airport with air traffic control 12 hours a day, with direct clearance delivery service to Houston TRACON after the tower is closed.
• The closest airport to Scholes International Airport at Galveston (GLS) is Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NW of GLS.
• It was officially deactivated on November 15, 1945, with ownership reverting to the City of Galveston.
• Scholes International Airport is the former Galveston Municipal Airport that dates back to 1931.