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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tokyo International Airport (HND), Tokyo, Honshū, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,977 miles (or 9,618 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 Tokyo 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 Tokyo International 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Tokyo International Airport (HND):

• Haneda Airfield first opened in 1931 on a small piece of bayfront land at the south end of today's airport complex.
• On September 12, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and head of the occupation of Japan following World War II, ordered that Haneda be handed over to the occupation forces.
• Tokyo International Airport (HND) has 4 runways.
• Haneda Airport's new international terminal has received numerous complaints from passengers using it during night hours.
• Daytime international slots were allocated in October 2013.
• The Transport Ministry released an expansion plan for Haneda in 1983 under which it would be expanded onto new landfill in Tokyo Bay with the aim of increasing capacity, reducing noise and making use of the large amount of garbage generated by Tokyo.
• Because of Tokyo International Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Tokyo International 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.
• The closest airport to Tokyo International Airport (HND) is Narita International Airport (NRT), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) ENE of HND.
• The furthest airport from Tokyo International Airport (HND) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 11,722 miles (18,864 kilometers) away in Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• The Tokyo Monorail opened between Haneda and central Tokyo in 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics.
• In addition to being known as "Tokyo International Airport", other names for HND include "東京国際空港" and "Tōkyō Kokusai Kūkō".