Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to GRW:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- GRW Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about GRW
- 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 GRW
- List of Nearest Airports to GRW
- Map of Furthest Airports from GRW
- List of Furthest Airports from GRW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Graciosa Airport (GRW), Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,529 miles (or 2,460 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Graciosa Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | GRW / LPGR |
Airport Name: | Graciosa Airport |
Location: | Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 39°5'33"N by 28°1'42"W |
Operator/Owner: | ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, SA |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 85 feet (26 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GRW |
More Information: | GRW Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
- 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 Graciosa Airport (GRW):
- Graciosa Airport (GRW) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Graciosa Airport (GRW) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Graciosa Airport (meaning Graciosa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,248 miles (19,712 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
- The closest airport to Graciosa Airport (GRW) is Pico Airport (PIX), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) SSW of GRW.
- Because of Graciosa Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Graciosa 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.