Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kadhdhoo Island, Laamu Atoll, Maldives:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO), Kadhdhoo Island, Laamu Atoll, Maldives would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,492 miles (or 8,838 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 Kadhdhoo 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 Kadhdhoo 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 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.

Facts about Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO):

• The project was implemented totally using local expertise, and though it was initiated under the Government’s budget alone, additional financial assistance was received from outside, notably from the United Nations Development Program, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Fund.
• Because of Kadhdhoo Airport's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Kadhdhoo 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.
• As a step to solve the aforementioned problems, it was decided by the present government to enact air links between Malé and four other vital regions.
• The closest airport to Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) is Thimarafushi Airport (TMF), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) NW of KDO.
• The furthest airport from Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,313 miles (18,206 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• In addition to being known as "Kadhdhoo Airport", another name for KDO is "ކައްދޫ އެއަރޕޯޓް".
• Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) currently has only 1 runway.