Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and King City, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC), King City, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,346 miles (or 8,603 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC):

• Because of Mesa Del Rey Airport's relatively low elevation of 374 feet, planes can take off or land at Mesa Del Rey 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 furthest airport from Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,390 miles (18,330 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Mesa Del Rey Airport covers an area of 149 acres at an elevation of 374 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Roberts Army Heliport (SYL), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) SE of KIC.
• In addition to being known as "Mesa Del Rey Airport", other names for KIC include "(former King City Airport)" and "(former King City Naval Aux. Air Station)".
• For the 12-month period ending February 25, 2009, the airport had 7,862 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 21 per day.
• Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) currently has only 1 runway.