Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Taizhou, Zhejiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Taizhou Luqiao Airport (HYN), Taizhou, Zhejiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,914 miles (or 9,518 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 Taizhou Luqiao 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 Taizhou Luqiao 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):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.

Facts about Taizhou Luqiao Airport (HYN):

• The furthest airport from Taizhou Luqiao Airport (HYN) is Mercedes Airport (MDX), which is nearly antipodal to Taizhou Luqiao Airport (meaning Taizhou Luqiao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mercedes Airport), and is located 12,383 miles (19,928 kilometers) away in Mercedes, Corrientes, Argentina.
• Taizhou Luqiao Airport handled 616,861 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Taizhou Luqiao Airport (HYN) is Wenzhou Longwan International Airport (WNZ), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) SW of HYN.
• In addition to being known as "Taizhou Luqiao Airport", other names for HYN include "台州路桥机场" and "Táizhōu Lùqiáo Jīchǎng".
• To handle the growing traffic volume, a new dedicated civil airport is being planned to replace Luqiao Airport, with an estimated total investment of 800 million to 1 billion yuan.