Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Labuan Bajo, Flores Island, Indonesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Komodo Airport (LBJ), Labuan Bajo, Flores Island, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,012 miles (or 12,895 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 Komodo 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 Komodo 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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 Komodo Airport (LBJ):

• The closest airport to Komodo Airport (LBJ) is Bajawa Soa Airport (BJW), which is located 82 miles (131 kilometers) E of LBJ.
• On September 14, 2011 an Aviastar aircraft hit a group of cows upon landing at Komodo Airport, slightly damaging its forward part, although the airport officers had driven the cows away using motorcycles, before the aircraft landed.
• Komodo Airport (LBJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• It was formerly known as Mutiara II Airport, not to be confused with Mutiara Airport located near the city of Palu in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province.
• Because of Komodo Airport's relatively low elevation of 67 feet, planes can take off or land at Komodo 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 Komodo Airport (LBJ) is El Dorado Airport (EOR), which is nearly antipodal to Komodo Airport (meaning Komodo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from El Dorado Airport), and is located 12,277 miles (19,758 kilometers) away in El Dorado, Venezuela.
• In addition to being known as "Komodo Airport", other names for LBJ include "Bandar Udara Komodo" and "Mutiara II Airport".
• Runway being extended to 2150 meters by Sep 2013 to accommodate 737's.