Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Wilmington, Delaware, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG), Wilmington, Delaware, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,500 miles (or 5,633 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle 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 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.

Facts about Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG):

• The furthest airport from Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,724 miles (18,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 80 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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.
• United Airlines served Wilmington until 1991.
• The airport opened before World War II, named the Wilmington Airport and the Greater Wilmington Airport.
• Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) has 3 runways.
• On April 9, 2013 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Frontier Airlines would begin service July 1 from Wilmington to Chicago-Midway, Orlando, Tampa, Houston, and Denver.
• Frontier flies three times a week to Atlanta, Chicago-Midway, Denver, Detroit, and Orlando, while flying once a week to Fort Myers and Tampa.
• The closest airport to Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NE of ILG.