Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kikwit Airport (KKW), Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,103 miles (or 6,603 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 Kikwit 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 Kikwit 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):

• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.

Facts about Kikwit Airport (KKW):

• Kikwit Airport (KKW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kikwit Airport", another name for KKW is "Kikwit Airport".
• The closest airport to Kikwit Airport (KKW) is Idiofa Airport (IDF), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) E of KKW.
• The furthest airport from Kikwit Airport (KKW) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Kikwit Airport (meaning Kikwit Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.