Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Hervey Bay Airport (HVB), Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,182 miles (or 16,386 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 Hervey Bay 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 Hervey Bay 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Hervey Bay Airport (HVB):

• Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2006, the airport was the fastest growing in Queensland with passenger numbers almost doubling.
• The new airport, which is located 5 nautical miles southeast of Pialba, opened in mid-2005, after the existing airfield underwent an $11.5 million upgrade which included the construction of a new terminal building and the extension of the existing 1,500 m runway to 2,000 m to accommodate jet services from Virgin Australia.
• The closest airport to Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) is Maryborough Airport (MBH), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SW of HVB.
• Hervey Bay Airport was ranked 38th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.
• Up until September 2006, Sunshine Express Airlines provided daily services to the airport from Brisbane.
• The furthest airport from Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,861 miles (19,088 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Because of Hervey Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Hervey Bay 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.