Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Currie, Tasmania, Australia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to KNS:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- KNS Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about KNS
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to KNS
- List of Nearest Airports to KNS
- Map of Furthest Airports from KNS
- List of Furthest Airports from KNS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and King Island Airport (KNS), Currie, Tasmania, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,615 miles (or 17,083 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 King Island 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 King Island Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | KNS / YKII |
| Airport Name: | King Island Airport |
| Location: | Currie, Tasmania, Australia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 39°52'38"S by 143°52'41"E |
| Area Served: | King Island |
| Operator/Owner: | King Island Council |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 132 feet (40 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 3 |
| View all routes: | Routes from KNS |
| More Information: | KNS Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 King Island Airport (KNS):
- Because of King Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 132 feet, planes can take off or land at King Island 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.
- King Island Airport (KNS) has 3 runways.
- The furthest airport from King Island Airport (KNS) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to King Island Airport (meaning King Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,170 miles (19,586 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
- The closest airport to King Island Airport (KNS) is Smithton Airport (SIO), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) SE of KNS.
